Argenx has struck a deal to acquire Unnatural Products (UNP) for $550 million upfront, snapping up the Merck & Co.- and Novartis-partnered biotech to add oral peptide capabilities.
Amsterdam-based argenx partnered with UNP in 2025. Through that deal, which is worth up to $1.5 billion in biobucks, UNP used its macrocyclic peptide delivery platform to generate candidates against undruggable targets chosen by argenx. The argenx deal was sandwiched between an agreement UNP inked with Merck in 2024 and the pact the biotech signed with Novartis in 2026.
Argenx is bringing UNP’s capabilities in-house through a takeover worth up to $1.15 billion, including development and regulatory milestones. The European biotech will retain UNP’s team and platform in Santa Cruz, California, and make the site its macrocyclic peptide discovery hub. UNP employs more than 50 people.
Macrocyclic peptides can enable oral delivery, as Johnson & Johnson and Merck have shown with Icotyde and Lipfendra, respectively. The peptides’ ability to survive the gut and hit targets traditionally engaged by intravenous products has fueled deals, including Gilead’s recent $1.28 billion acquisition of PepStar Therapeutics’ oral IL-23 inhibitor.
Founded in 2016 by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, UNP has built a platform designed to repeatedly engineer drug-like macrocycles at scale. The platform features AI-guided design, massively parallel synthesis and direct-to-biology screening.
Acquiring the platform expands argenx’s capabilities beyond its traditional focus on antibodies. The biotech is best known for Vyvgart, an anti-FcRn antibody fragment approved for generalized myasthenia gravis and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. Argenx has invested in Vyvgart-based combinations and new delivery modalities, including autoinjectors and oral peptides.
Business development is part of argenx’s efforts to build on the platform provided by Vyvgart. In July, the biotech struck a deal to buy Forte Biosciences for $2.2 billion. The takeover gave argenx control of an anti-CD122 antibody, FB102, which is in mid-phase development for vitiligo and celiac disease.
Source: fiercebiotech.com
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The sale of the activities related to custom contract development and manufacturing of pharmaceutical substances and products is intended to sharpen Merck’s portfolio in line with its medium- to long-term strategic direction and focus it on innovation-driven businesses with high value-creation potential.
