TLN-121

With three programmes in Phase I testing — and aspirations to move four more into the clinic over the next few years — Treeline Biosciences is charting a course to go public and secure the funding it needs to support its broad pipeline. The biotech on Monday announced plans for a reverse merger with Standard BioTools, a public multi-omics company developing microfluidic tools for genomic analyses, as well as spatial and single-cell proteomic technologies. The combined company will operate and trade on NASDAQ as Treeline and be helmed by the drug developer's chief executive, Josh Bilenker. Before helping co-found Treeline, he led Loxo Oncology to its $8-billion buyout by Eli Lilly in 2019.The deal, expected to close next half, would add $450 million in cash from Standard to the company's balance sheet, bringing its total cash to more than $900 million and extending its runway into 2029. The move to go public comes less than a year after Treeline raised $200 million in a series A extension to start in-human trials of its three lead cancer assets. Since its launch in 2021, the startup has collected about $1.2 billion in funding, including a $422-million financing in 2024."After just five years of company operations, today’s announcement reflects the productivity and talents of our team," Bilenker said in a company release. "Operating as a public company with a strengthened balance sheet will help us build an enduring biopharma company."Deal structureWhen the merger closes, Standard stockholders are expected to own about 16% of the combined company, while Treeline shareholders will hold 84%. Because the combined firm will not continue Standard's microfluidics and mass cytometry businesses, the firm is looking to divest those operations. Under the deal terms, Standard shareholders will receive one contingent value right per share, which will entitle them to certain payments tied to its technology businesses, as well as up to $50 million in milestones related to Illumina's $350-million purchase of its SomaLogic unit last year. "We believe that pursuing independent options for each business is the most effective path forward for our people and technology," said Michael Egholm, CEO of Standard.Pipeline updateWith its strengthened cash position, Treeline is moving towards data readouts for its three clinical programmes while aiming to advance four more assets that will expand its portfolio beyond oncology.The biotech's lead candidates include two internally developed drugs — TLN-121 and TLN-372 — as well as one in-licensed asset, all of which are in Phase I testing with expected interim readouts starting in 2027. TLN-121, a BCL6 degrader designed to disable a protein that lymphoma cells use to survive, is being evaluated for B-cell and T-cell lymphomas; TLN-372 is an oral KRAS inhibitor in patients with KRAS-mutant solid tumours; and TLN-254 (SHR-2554), gained from Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals after a Phase II trial in refractory lymphoma, is an EZH2 blocker being studied in patients with peripheral and cutaneous T-cell lymphomas.Treeline expects to move its fourth asset, TLN-499, into Phase I testing this year. The oral protein degrader selectively targets BCL-XL, a pro-survival protein that can help cancers prevent apoptosis. In 2027 and 2028, the company is also planning on advancing three more programmes, including candidates in oncology, neurology and immunology, into the clinic.