Arcutis acquires privately-held biotech Ducentis BioTherapeutics

• Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) on Wednesday said it would acquire Ducentis BioTherapeutics, a privately-held, preclinical-stage biotech developing therapies for inflammation autoimmune diseases.
• As per the share purchase agreement, Arcutis (ARQT) will acquire Ducentis' shares for an upfront cash payment of about $16M and ARQT stock valued at around $14M.
• With the acquisition, ARQT adds Ducentis' lead asset DS-234, an agonist of the CD200 receptor, which is an immune-regulatory receptor that plays a pivotal role in the maintenance of immune tolerance.
• ARQT said given the early-stage nature of the DS-234 program, the acquisition was not expected to have a material impact on its financial plans.
• ARQT stock earlier closed +2.2% at $21.54.