Ikena Oncology merges with Inmagene Biopharmaceuticals to strengthen future prospects

Ikena Oncology  merges with Inmagene, focusing on atopic dermatitis and immunology advancements.

Ikena Oncology has emerged with a new direction from a challenging year through a merger with Inmagene Biopharmaceuticals, an immunology company that is privately owned. The move will bring stability to Ikena's operations, which were significantly cut by workforce and pipeline in 2024. The combined entity will be named InmageneBio and listed on Nasdaq under the ticker "IMA."

The merged entity's main asset will be IMAGINE's most significant asset, IMG-007, an OX40-targeting monoclonal antibody. IMAGINE recently completed the Phase 2a clinical study in atopic dermatitis and will initiate Phase 2b early in 2025. This is quite a departure from Ikena's earlier oncology-oriented strategy.

Ikena's shareholders will hold 34.8% of the merged company, and Inmagene's equity holders will hold 43.5%. A private placement involving investors such as Deep Track Capital, Foresite Capital, and others will contribute $75 million to the merger, and these investors will hold the remaining 21.7% of the business.

The merger comes after a tough year for Ikena, which had to axe more than a third of its workforce in 2024 after Bristol Myers Squibb ended collaboration. In May, Ikena also axed one of its two drug candidates, a Hippo pathway inhibitor, and trimmed staff further. This restructuring left Ikena solely focused on its oncology asset, IK-595, a molecular glue targeting RAS and RAF mutant cancers in Phase 1. But with today's announcement, none of this is mentioned anymore, and the pivot toward immunology is clear.