Abzena shares rise as development partner True North acquired

Shares in Abzena zipped up almost 12% after the life sciences group said development partner True North Therapeutics Inc has been acquired by Bioverativ Inc for $400m.

Bioverativ would obtain worldwide rights to True North's lead candidate, TNT009, a first-in-class monoclonal antibody in development to treat cold agglutinin disease (CAD).

CAD is a rare and chronic haemolytic condition that often leads to severe anaemia, requiring numerous transfusions, and can result in life-threatening thrombotic events.

"There are no approved therapies for CAD, which occurs in approximately 16 people per million globally, including an estimated 5,000 people in the US," said Abzena.

"TNT009 was created using Abzena's Composite Human Antibody technology and falls within the Abzena Inside portfolio of products being developed by Abzena's partners.

Investors in True North were able to receive a further up to $425m over the upfront payment based on future development, regulatory and sales milestones.

At 14:31 BST, shares in AIM-listed Abzena were up 11.76% to 38p each.