Concentra throws lifeline to troubled CARGO Therapeutics

CAR-T therapy developer CARGO Therapeutics has found a way forward after abandoning its clinical programmes and slashing staff to the bone earlier this year: a merger with Concentra Biosciences.

Concentra – which is led by entrepreneur Kevin Tang, principal of San Diego-based life sciences investment fund Tang Capital Partners – is offering $4.38 per share for CARGO, continuing a string of acquisitions of biotechs that have come under pressure. This year alone, that list has included Elevation Oncology, Kronos Bio, Allakos, and IGM Biosciences.

The deal for CARGO, which remains relatively well funded despite its troubles, comes with a contingent value right (CVR) that will see shareholders pocket any new cash held by the biotech above $217.5 million, as well as 80% of the value of any asset sales within the next two years.

The agreement comes after safety concerns and a lack of a durable treatment effect scuppered a mid-stage trial of its CARGO's lead CAR-T firicabtagene autoleucel (CRG-022), causing the programme to be dropped from development. The CD22-directed CAR-T was being tested in the FIRCE-1 study as a treatment for patients with relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL).

Nasdaq-listed CARGO – which raised $281 million when it went public in 2023 – briefly turned its attention to a follow-up CAR-T targeting CD19, CD20, and CD22 (CRG-023) for B-cell malignancies before announcing in March it was stopping all development work and laying off 90% of its workforce, eking out its cash reserves while it sought "strategic alternatives."

It ended 2024 with around $368 million in liquid assets, and Concentra's offer mirrors the cash-harvesting model of its earlier 2025 deals.

"Following a strategic review process conducted with the assistance of CARGO's management and legal and financial advisors and other factors considered, the CARGO board of directors has unanimously determined that the acquisition by Concentra is in the best interests of all CARGO stockholders," said the San Carlos-based biotech in a statement.

Concentra will start a tender offer later this month that will aim to give it control of all outstanding shares of the San Carlos-based biotech's common stock, which was trading at $4.58 at the time of writing, valuing the company at just over $211 million.

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