Quince Gets Unsolicited Acquisition Offer from Echo Lake Capital

Rare Daily Staff

Rare disease therapeutics developer Quince Therapeutics confirmed that it received an unsolicited offer to acquire the company from shareholder Echo Lake Capital.

In the letter sent to Quince’s Board of Directors, Echo Lake Capital offered to buy Quince for $1.60 per share in cash, a 90 percent premium to its closing price before the offer. Echo Lake said the company is severely undervalued, trading below its current cash and investments balance of $2.55 per share, has other assets of value, and is not developing or selling any drugs at this time. The offer not contingent on outside financing

Quince said its board of directors will carefully review and evaluate the proposal to determine the course of action it believes is in the best interests of the company and its stockholders. Quince said stockholders need not take any action at this time.

At the end of January, Quince said it was restructuring and reducing its workforce by 47 percent, pivoting toward prioritizing capital resources toward opportunistic in-licensing and acquisition of clinical-stage assets targeting debilitating and rare diseases and out-licensing its bone-targeting drug platform and precision bone growth molecule NOV004 designed for accelerated fracture repair in patients with bone fractures and osteogenesis imperfecta.

“We believe our optimal growth plan lies in dedicating our capital, drug development, and corporate resources toward the in-licensing and acquisition of clinical-stage assets,” said Dirk Thye, CEO of Quince, at that time.

Quince’s bone growth molecule NOV004 that completed all IND-enabling studies, in addition to completion of a successful pre-IND meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Though Quince said it has significant cash runway to support pipeline expansion through in-licensing and acquisition, as well as fund capital and operating expenditures into at least 2028, the company did not mention that it is cutting 47 percent of its workforce as it looks to sell its major asset NOV004, leaving that notice to an SEC filing.

Photo: Dirk Thye, CEO of Quince