argenx completes Forte Biosciences takeover, adds first-in-class anti-CD122 antibody
Money MovesBelgian immunology company pays $77 a share for the Texas biotech's lead autoimmune asset, FB102
Yesterday: Merger completes; Forte becomes argenx subsidiaryNew here? Follow stories to track developments over time. Create a free account to get updates when stories you care about change.
Overview
Updated Yesterdayargenx, a Belgian immunology company, closed its $2.2 billion takeover of Forte Biosciences on August 27, 2026. Forte is now a wholly owned subsidiary and its shares have been delisted from Nasdaq.
The all-cash deal, at $77 per share, hands argenx FB102, a first-in-class anti-CD122 antibody with early proof-of-concept in vitiligo and celiac disease. argenx paid before late-stage data was in, betting the drug can expand into multiple large autoimmune markets.
Why it matters
argenx bet $2.2 billion that FB102 can crack large autoimmune markets where few new treatments have emerged in decades.
Questions about this story
Free account needed to ask — your question is kept and asked for you right after sign-up. Answers are public.
No questions yet — be the first to ask.
Key Indicators
Voices
Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.
Play
Exploring all sides of a story is often best achieved with Play.
Higher or Lower
A number from this story, against one from elsewhere in the news — guess which is bigger, then keep the chain going. 5 rounds, 3 strikes; a miss costs a strike and resets your streak.
Keyboard: ↓/L lower · ↑/H higher
0 points — sign up to put that on the leaderboard.
Connections
Sixteen names from the news. Find the four hidden groups of four. Four mistakes max.
Sign up to keep a daily streak — a new puzzle lands every day.
Exit debate?
Your progress in this debate will be lost.
- 1 Two AI personas square off on this story.
- 2 You predict who'll win each round — correct picks earn XP.
- 3 One crossfire question is yours to fire. Pick it carefully.
Couldn't generate a topic
Select Your Champions
Choose one persona for each side of the debate
DEBATE TOPIC
Choose personas with different perspectives for a more dynamic debate.
Select debater for this side:
No debate personas available right now.
Select debater for this side:
No debate personas available right now.
Who's Got This Round?
Make your prediction before the referee scores
The referee scores both sides on
Round Results
Set the Crossfire
Pick the question both personas must answer in the final round
Debate Oracle! You called every round!
Sharp Instincts! You know your debaters!
The Coin Flip Strategist! Perfectly balanced!
The Contrarian! Bold predictions!
Inverse Genius! Try betting the opposite next time!
XP Breakdown
Prediction History
People Involved
Organizations Involved
Timeline
June 2025 August 2026
-
Merger completes; Forte becomes argenx subsidiary
Latest DealThe merger closed under Delaware law without a stockholder vote, converting all remaining shares into $77 cash.
-
Tender offer expires; 87.13% of shares tendered
Deal19,894,879 shares were validly tendered, passing the condition of more than half of outstanding shares.
-
argenx launches cash tender offer
DealThe tender offer opened to buy all outstanding Forte shares at $77 each.
-
argenx and Forte sign merger agreement
Dealargenx agreed to pay $77 per share in cash, valuing Forte at about $2.2 billion, an 86% premium to its recent average price.
-
Forte reports positive Phase 1b vitiligo data
ClinicalEarly-stage vitiligo results lifted Forte's shares and set the premium that argenx later paid.
-
Forte posts positive FB102 celiac disease data
ClinicalForte announced positive data from the FB102 celiac disease study, an early sign the antibody works beyond skin conditions.
Historical Context
2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.
AbbVie acquires Pharmacyclics (2015)
AbbVie agreed to pay about $21 billion for Pharmacyclics, buying ibrutinib (Imbruvica), a single blood-cancer drug with rapidly growing sales. The price was a bet on one molecule rather than a diversified pipeline.
Imbruvica became a blockbuster, generating billions in annual revenue and anchoring AbbVie's oncology franchise.
The deal became a benchmark for single-asset acquisitions that pay off when a drug expands across multiple indications.
FB102 is positioned as one mechanism with potential across several autoimmune diseases. argenx is running the same expansion playbook, paying upfront for a platform it hopes will reach multiple markets.
Eli Lilly acquires Dice Therapeutics (2023)
Eli Lilly agreed to pay about $2.4 billion for Dice Therapeutics, a small biotech whose oral IL-17 inhibitor for psoriasis had shown mid-stage promise but no approved product. Lilly paid a large premium for a single, unproven autoimmune asset.
Lilly closed the deal and folded Dice's oral IL-17 candidate into its immunology pipeline alongside its injectable drugs.
The deal showed large pharma paying billions for one mid-stage autoimmune candidate to expand beyond established injectable franchises.
argenx's buyout of Forte follows the same pattern: a large immunology player paying billions for one mid-stage autoimmune antibody with blockbuster potential.
