Amgen to Acquire Preclinical-Stage Rodeo Therapeutics for Over $700 Million, Betting on 15-PGDH Inhibitor's Broad Therapeutic Potential

Today, Amgen and Rodeo Therapeutics (“Rodeo”) announced that they have reached an agreement for Amgen to acquire Rodeo. Under the terms of the agreement, Amgen will make an upfront payment of $55 million, with potential future milestone payments and other considerations totaling up to $666 million, bringing the total transaction value to over $700 million. Notably, Rodeo is still a preclinical-stage company. What factors drove Amgen’s acquisition of Rodeo?

A key factor lies in the broad potential applications of Rodeo Therapeutics’ investigational new drugs. As an emerging company focused on developing small-molecule therapies to promote tissue repair and regeneration, Rodeo’s lead development program is a 15-prostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH) modulator. Preclinical data indicate that modulating 15-PGDH activity significantly elevates prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) levels across multiple tissues in animal models, which further prevents colitis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, accelerates hematopoietic stem cell reconstitution following bone marrow transplantation, and promotes liver regeneration.

▲ Inhibition of 15-PGDH can accelerate tissue repair (Image source: Reference [4])

“15-PGDH plays a key role in many disease-related processes, such as stem cell self-renewal and epithelial barrier repair. Given the encouraging preclinical data to date, we are excited about the potential to develop an innovative therapy for a range of important inflammatory diseases,” said Dr. Raymond Deshaies, Vice President of Global Research at Amgen.

Inflammatory diseases have been a key focus for Amgen in recent years. In 2019, Amgen acquired the global rights to Otezla from Celgene, strengthening its pipeline in inflammatory diseases. At the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference held this January, Amgen also presented several potential therapies for inflammatory diseases with “first-in-class” potential. The acquisition of Rodeo Therapeutics is undoubtedly highly aligned with Amgen’s strategy and will further enhance its portfolio in this field.

▲ Amgen is advancing the development of multiple first-in-class therapies for inflammatory diseases (Image source: Reference [3])

Viewed through the lens of its corporate development, Rodeo Therapeutics represents another successful case of scientific translation. In 2015, several of the company’s founders published a paper in the prestigious academic journal Science, elucidating the mechanism by which inhibition of 15-PGDH promotes tissue regeneration. In 2017, the company completed a $5.9 million Series A financing round, with investors including AbbVie Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, ARCH Venture Partners, Eli Lilly and Company, J&J Innovation-JJDC, Watson Fund, WRF Capital, and WuXi AppTec. “Regarding the establishment of Rodeo, I would like to extend special thanks to WuXi AppTec. For us, WuXi AppTec provided valuable, essential, and irreplaceable enabling support,” mentioned Dr. Sandy Markowitz, one of the company’s founders, in an exclusive interview.

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