INTERNATIONAL BIOTECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC ("IBT")

IBT portfolio company Crinetics to be acquired by Vertex

IBT notes the announcement yesterday that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (Crinetics) has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Vertex).

Crinetics is a global pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapeutics for endocrine diseases. Its marketed medicine, PALSONIFY, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in September 2025 and has also been approved by the European Medicines Agency. It is the first and only once-daily oral therapy for adults with acromegaly, a rare and debilitating condition caused by a pituitary tumour that secretes excess growth hormone. Crinetics' most advanced pipeline candidate, atumelnant, is a once-daily oral adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) receptor antagonist currently in Phase 3 development for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH).

Under the terms of the agreement, Crinetics shareholders will receive $85 per share in cash at closing, representing a premium of approximately 102% to Crinetics' closing share price on 6 July. As at close of business on 6 July, Crinetics represented 3.17% of IBT's Net Asset Value, as included in IBT's daily NAV update on 7 July.

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

"Biotech's M&A bonanza continues. We are seeing an unprecedented pace of dealmaking in the sector, with the volume of biotech M&A so far this year already close to the total for the whole of 2025 - itself a bumper year.

This deal is the eighth acquisition within IBT's portfolio in 2026, and the 14^th over the last year. Our approach to selecting companies, which considers the same factors as pharmaceutical business development teams, continues to demonstrate its effectiveness. Despite the high levels of activity we have seen in 2026, many pharmaceutical firms are still not close to making up for the lost revenues they face due to patent expiries in the coming years, so we expect this active period of dealmaking to continue, creating more opportunities for IBT to capture returns for our shareholders."

The updated valuation of IBT's holding in Crinetics will be included in IBT's NAV as at close of business on 6 July, to be reported in the usual way on 7 July. 

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