argenx, Unnatural Products Research Deal Could Trigger Payments of Up to $1.5 Billion
Key Facts
Under the agreement, Unnatural Products will handle research and development through IND-enabling studies, while argenx receives an exclusive option to develop and commercialize products against the agreed targets. The option gives argenx the decision on whether to advance the covered products into development and commercialization, under the terms of the agreement. The announcement said the collaboration focuses on developing orally available macrocyclic peptide therapies. Potential payments tied to the agreement could total about $1.5 billion, covering research and development, regulatory and commercial milestones, and options; this is not a disclosed acquisition value.
Unnatural Products said its platform combines AI-guided compound design, large-scale parallel synthesis and direct biological screening. The approach aims to discover macrocyclic peptides that could be developed as oral drugs. The company describes its potential pipeline as spanning oncology, immunology and rare diseases. The collaboration brings this research platform into an arrangement that gives argenx the option to develop and commercialize products for the specified targets. The agreement divides responsibilities between early-stage research handled by Unnatural Products and development and commercialization options retained by argenx.
In a subsequent financing development, Unnatural Products announced on March 16, 2026, that it had closed a $45 million Series B round, with participation from argenx and existing and new investors. The announcement coincided with a deal with Novartis to develop macrocyclic peptides targeting cardiovascular areas. Unnatural Products said the Novartis agreement includes an upfront payment of up to $100 million and potential milestone payments of up to $1.7 billion. Those terms apply to the Novartis agreement, while potential payments under the argenx collaboration are capped at about $1.5 billion. The figures reflect separate arrangements with two different companies and do not represent the purchase price of Unnatural Products.
argenx said in its third-quarter update that global product sales reached $1.7 billion during the quarter, up 54% year over year and 13% quarter over quarter. Cash, cash equivalents and current financial assets totaled $3.7 billion on September 30, 2026, after the company paid about $2.1 billion to acquire Forte Biosciences, net of cash acquired. argenx announced the completion of the Forte acquisition on August 27, 2026, at a cash offer price of $77 per share. The deal added the FB102 antibody to the company's immunology portfolio. The acquisition provides context on argenx's dealmaking activity, but does not change the description of its agreement with Unnatural Products as a research collaboration announced in 2025.
ARGX closed at $927.21 on November 6, 2026, according to EL7 data. That figure is the session closing price; the record does not include reliable opening, high or low prices for the session. The closing-price record also does not link the stock's performance to any new announcement of an acquisition of Unnatural Products. The following day, November 7, 2026, argenx said it presented Phase III data from the ALKIVIA study of efgartigimod for autoimmune myositis at ACR Convergence 2026. The presentation is the latest development in the available information about the company after the stock's close.