Sensei Biotherapeutics acquires Faeth Therapeutics for $200 million

Sensei Biotherapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SNSE) announced it has acquired Faeth Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, in conjunction with a $200 million private placement financing.

The acquisition brings Faeth's lead asset PIKTOR into Sensei's pipeline. PIKTOR is an investigational oral combination of serabelisib and sapanisertib that targets multiple nodes of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway through PI3K-alpha and dual mTORC1/2 inhibition.

The private placement included participation from B Group Capital, Balyasny Asset Management, Columbia Threadneedle Investments, Cormorant Asset Management, Fairmount, Logos Capital, RA Capital Management, Vivo Capital, and other institutional investors. Sensei expects to use proceeds primarily to advance PIKTOR through clinical milestones, including topline data from an ongoing Phase 2 trial in second-line advanced endometrial cancer and initiation of a Phase 1b trial in HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer, both expected by year-end 2026.

The acquisition was structured as a stock-for-stock transaction. Faeth's equity interests were exchanged for 252,210 shares of Sensei common stock and approximately 10,604 shares of Series B non-voting convertible preferred stock. The private placement investors will receive approximately 14,440 shares of Series B preferred stock at approximately $13,850 per share.

Following the transactions, former Sensei equityholders will own approximately 4.9% of the company, former Faeth equityholders will own approximately 40.8%, and private placement investors will own approximately 54.3%, calculated on a fully-diluted, as-converted basis.

In a completed Phase 1b trial, PIKTOR plus paclitaxel demonstrated a 47% overall response rate in response-evaluable patients averaging four prior lines of therapy, with a 71% response rate in patients with PI3K pathway mutations.

Anand Parikh, co-founder of Faeth Therapeutics, will serve as Chief Operating Officer and director of Sensei following the acquisition.

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