Yumanity to Sell Neurosciences Candidates, Merge With Kineta

By Colin Kellaher

Yumanity Therapeutics Inc. on Monday said it plans to shed its neurosciences programs and to combine with privately held immuno-oncology company Kineta Inc. in an all-stock deal resulting in Kineta shareholders owning about 85% of the combined company.

Boston biopharmaceutical company Yumanity said it has agreed to sell YTX-7739, its most advanced product candidate, along with its unpartnered discovery-stage neuroscience product candidates and targets, to a unit of Johnson & Johnson for $26 million in cash.

Yumanity said it will then merge with Kineta, with the combined company focused on immuno-oncology and continuing Yumanity's research collaboration with Merck & Co. in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar dementia.

Yumanity in February said it would explore strategic alternatives and shed roughly 60% of its staff. The moves came after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in January placed a partial clinical hold on studies of YTX-7739 in the progressive nervous-system disorder Parkinson's disease.

The company said it plans a one-time dividend to its shareholders using any remaining proceeds from the Johnson & Johnson deal, net of current obligations and cash needs related to the merger with Kineta.

Shares of Yumanity, which closed Friday at $1.42, rose nearly 30% to $1.84 in premarket trading Monday.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 06, 2022 07:06 ET (11:06 GMT)

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