INTERNATIONAL BIOTECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC ("IBT")

IBT portfolio company Apogee to be acquired by AbbVie

IBT notes the announcement today that Apogee Therapeutics (Apogee) has entered into an agreement to be acquired by AbbVie Inc. (AbbVie).

Apogee Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing novel biologics with potential for differentiated efficacy and dosing in the largest immunology & inflammation (I&I) markets, including for the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD), asthma, eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other I&I indications. Zumilokibart, the company's most advanced program, is being initially developed for the treatment of AD, which is the largest and one of the least penetrated I&I markets, as well as asthma and EoE.

Under the terms of the agreement, Apogee shareholders will receive $135.11 per share in cash at closing, representing a premium of approximately 49.5% to Apogee's closing share price on 18 June. As at close of business on 19 June, Apogee represented c. 0.41% of IBT's Net Asset Value, as included in IBT's daily NAV update on 22 June.

Commenting on the news, Ailsa Craig and Marek Poszepczynski, portfolio managers of IBT, said:

"The biotech M&A boom shows no signs of slowing, with deal flow running ahead of last year's pace. The latest deal represents the seventh acquisition within the IBT portfolio in 2026 so far, compared to three acquisitions at the same stage last year, with the total value of the companies acquired also up 9%. This demonstrates the success of our investment strategy, which seeks to evaluate companies through the same lens as pharmaceutical business development teams.

While pharmaceutical firms have spent tens of billions of dollars on acquiring biotech businesses this year, the patent cliff facing the pharmaceutical sector runs into the hundreds of billions, so we believe this period of dealmaking has much further to run. This should create further opportunities for IBT to take advantage and deliver returns for our shareholders."

The updated valuation of IBT's holding in Apogee will be included in IBT's NAV as at close of business on 22 June, to be reported in the usual way on 23 June. 

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