Tempest Therapeutics Inc., a privately held clinical-stage oncology company developing potentially first-in-class therapeutics that combine both targeted and immune-mediated mechanisms, and Millendo Therapeutics Inc. in Ann Arbor, announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Millendo will merge with Tempest in an all-stock transaction.
The combined company will focus on advancing Tempest’s oncology pipeline of small molecule therapeutics that have the potential to address a wide range of tumors. Upon shareholder approval, the combined company is expected to operate under the name Tempest Therapeutics and trade on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol TPST.
In support of the merger, Tempest, which is based in South San Francisco, said it has secured commitments from a syndicate of health care investors comprised of Versant Ventures, Rock Springs Capital, F-Prime Capital, Monashee Investment Management, Quan Capital, Lyfe Capital, Maven Investment Partners U.S., Lilly Asia Ventures, and Eight Roads Ventures for a $30 million PIPE financing that is expected to close concurrent with the completion of the merger.
Together with the cash expected from both companies at closing, the net proceeds of the merger and financing are expected to fund the further development of Tempest’s three oncology programs and operate the company into early 2023. The financing and merger are expected to close in the first half of 2021.
“We are very pleased to announce this proposed merger with Millendo Therapeutics, which will facilitate the advancement of our broad pipeline of targeted oncology programs, including TPST-1495 and TPST-1120, which are both progressing in the clinic with encouraging early signs of clinical benefit,” says Tom Dubensky, CEO of Tempest.
“Together with our recently announced clinical collaboration with Roche to investigate TPST-1120 in a randomized frontline hepatocellular carcinoma study, this has been a highly productive quarter for Tempest that sets the stage for additional potential catalysts from our proprietary oncology programs. The transition of Tempest to a public company enhances our ability to fund these potentially important product candidates, as well as consider additional programs with exciting new targets.”
Tempest’s oncology pipeline is led by two clinical programs, TPST-1495 and TPST-1120, with broad potential across multiple tumor types. TPST-1495 is an antagonist selective for two receptors in the prostaglandin (PGE2) pathway, EP2 and EP4, which promote both tumor growth and the proliferation of suppressive immune cell populations.
Tempest is currently evaluating the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and preliminary anti-tumor activity of TPST-1495 in a multicenter Phase 1a/1b dose and schedule optimization study in patients with advanced solid tumors, with a focus on known prostaglandin-driven tumors such as colorectal cancer, lung adenocarcinoma, and urothelial cancer.
Tempest expects to report topline data from this study prior to the end of 2021, as well as data from planned monotherapy dose expansion and combination studies in 2022. TPST-1120 is designed to be a selective antagonist of proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR⍺) which is a transcription factor that regulates the expression of target genes that promote angiogenesis and enable a cellular metabolic pathway known as fatty acid oxidation.
TPST-1120 has completed monotherapy dose escalation and is progressing through a combination dose escalation study with nivolumab. This summer, Tempest expects F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd to initiate a global, randomized Phase 1b/2 clinical study in combination with the standard-of-care first-line regimen of atezolizumab and bevacizumab in patients with advanced or metastatic HCC not previously treated with systemic therapy, pursuant to a recently announced collaboration between the companies. Tempest expects to report topline data from this study by year-end 2022.
“Millendo Therapeutics’ strategic review was a thorough and thoughtful process. We believe we have found a partner that offers not only the greatest value for our existing shareholders but also promising targeted oncology product candidates for patients living with cancer,” says Louis Arcudi, CEO of Millendo.
Under the proposed merger, Millendo stockholders are expected to own approximately 18.5 percent of the combined company and pre-merger Tempest stockholders will own approximately 81.5 percent of the combined company. The percentage of the combined company that Millendo’s stockholders will own as of the close of the transaction is subject to adjustment based on the amount of Millendo’s net cash at the closing date.
Upon closing of the transaction, Millendo will be renamed Tempest Therapeutics, Inc. and will be headquartered in South San Francisco, CA. Stephen Brady and Dubensky will serve as CEO and president, respectively, of the combined company.
The merger agreement provides that the board of directors of the combined company will be comprised of seven members. The merger agreement has been approved by the boards of of each company, and the transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2021, subject to approvals by the stockholders of each company, the effectiveness of a registration statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to register the shares of Millendo common stock to be issued in connection with the merger, the completion of a PIPE financing, and other customary closing conditions.
SVB Leerink is serving as the exclusive financial advisor to Millendo and WilmerHale is serving as legal counsel. Piper Sandler is serving as the exclusive financial advisor to Tempest and Sidley Austin is serving as legal counsel.
Millendo Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company previously primarily focused on developing novel treatments for endocrine diseases where current therapies do not exist or are insufficient. Millendo seeks to create distinct and transformative treatments where there is a significant unmet medical need. For more information, please visit www.millendo.com.
Tempest Therapeutics is a clinical-stage oncology company advancing small molecules that combine both targeted and immune-mediated mechanisms with the potential to treat a wide range of tumors. The company’s two novel clinical programs are TPST-1495 and TPST-1120, antagonists of EP2/EP4 and PPARα, respectively. Both TPST-1495 and TPST-1120 are advancing through Phase 1 studies designed to study both agents as monotherapies and in combination with other approved agents.
Tempest is also developing an inhibitor of TREX-1, a double-stranded DNA exonuclease that is designed to control activation of the cGAS/STING pathway, which is an innate immune response pathway that induces the production of IFN-β, a cytokine that is well-established to trigger the development of anti-tumor immunity. Oral delivery of a TREX-1 small molecule inhibitor is intended to selectively activate STING in tumors, leading to anti-tumor immunity. Tempest is headquartered in South San Francisco and supported by notable healthcare investors. More information about Tempest can be found on the company’s website at www.tempesttx.com.
