This is a spinoff that deserves a closer look. It decouples the more speculative drug development pipeline from the royalties from already approved and partnered drugs. Essentially, the company has securitized its royalties through a spinoff.
The First Tracks Biotherapeutics Spinoff
AnaptysBio shareholders received one share of First Tracks Bio common stock for every one share of AnaptysBio common stock held as of the close of business on the record date of April 6, 2026. The spinoff was completed on April 20, 2026. Anaptys continues to trade on Nasdaq under ANAB, while First Tracks Bio began regular-way trading under TRAX.
Unusually, unlike most spinoffs, the Anaptys spinoff of First Tracks was taxable. Investors should consult with a tax professional for guidance on how to properly handle the transaction.
ANAB: The Royalty Company
After the First Tracks spinoff, AnaptysBio is no longer a biotech. It is a securitization of the royalty streams of two partnered compounds: Jemperli with GSK and imsidolimab with Vanda.
“Anaptys begins this next chapter in a virtual business model. We are now exclusively managing royalties from our out-licensed assets, Jemperli and imsidolimab, with streamlined operations requiring limited FTEs, minimal operating expenses and providing a greater than 95% EBIT margin,” said Daniel Faga, president and chief executive officer. “This structure positions us to operate without complexity and deliver maximum value to shareholders.”
The company also has about $140 million to $145 million in net cash. It’s unclear why the firm needs this much cash when its function is just to collect royalties. Perhaps the company intends to acquire additional royalty assets? Or perhaps the cash is needed for legal expenses related to the Jemperli royalty dispute?
That means ANAB is basically a two-asset royalty/collaboration vehicle, with cash and a lawsuit attached. Jemperli is the big asset. Imsidolimab is smaller, but it should not be ignored.
At a recent ANAB price around $58, the market cap is roughly $1.66 billion. Subtract the company’s stated $140 million to $145 million of net cash, and the market is valuing the royalty and collaboration assets at roughly $1.5 billion, before making any adjustments for taxes, overhead, litigation, royalty monetization arrangements, or the chance that management finds an unhelpful use for the money.
As an aside, in our previous article, we suggested a valuation for this that is baffling to me and I’m not sure where it came from or what I was thinking. Sorry. I’m pretty embarrassed, to be honest.
Jemperli Is The Main Event
The central asset is Jemperli. Anaptys said GSK reported $343 million of Jemperli sales in Q4 2025, up more than 13% sequentially, implying a roughly $1.4 billion annualized run rate. Anaptys March update.
The royalty tiers are what make the story interesting. Reuters has reported that Anaptys is entitled to tiered royalties on Jemperli: 8% on annual sales below $1 billion, 12% from $1 billion to $1.5 billion, 20% from $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion, and 25% above $2.5 billion. Reuters also reported that royalty payments are expected to continue at least until key patents expire in 2035 in the United States and 2036 in the European Union. Reuters.
Very rough Jemperli royalty math looks like this:
| Jemperli Annual Sales | Estimated Gross Royalty | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| $1.4 billion | ~$128 million | Approximate current annualized run rate based on Q4 2025 sales |
| $1.5 billion | ~$140 million | Just before the higher 20% tier begins |
| $2.0 billion | ~$240 million | The 20% tier starts to matter |
| $2.5 billion | ~$340 million | A much better case for today’s valuation |
| $2.7 billion | ~$390 million | Roughly consistent with Anaptys’s peak-sales royalty framing |
At the current annualized Jemperli run rate, ANAB is not obviously cheap. A roughly $1.5 billion ex-cash valuation against about $128 million of estimated gross Jemperli royalty economics is about 12 times that gross royalty number.
But the math improves quickly if Jemperli keeps growing. At $2 billion of annual sales, the rough gross royalty number rises to about $240 million. At $2.5 billion, it rises to about $340 million. That is the main ANAB upside case: the market is paying a real price today, but the royalty stream becomes much more interesting if Jemperli pushes into the higher tiers.
Imsidolimab Is Smaller, But Not Zero
Imsidolimab is the second financial-collaboration asset. In February 2025, Anaptys licensed imsidolimab to Vanda. The deal gave Anaptys $10 million upfront, another $5 million for existing drug supply, eligibility for up to $35 million in future regulatory and sales milestones, and a 10% royalty on net sales. Vanda received the exclusive global license to develop, manufacture, and commercialize the drug. Anaptys/Vanda release.
This is not the centerpiece of the ANAB valuation. The 10% royalty is much simpler than the Jemperli tiered structure, and the disclosed milestone pool is modest. But it does give ANAB a second shot on goal.
The timing also matters. In its recent filing, Anaptys said Vanda submitted a BLA for imsidolimab in generalized pustular psoriasis in December 2025, and that the FDA accepted the filing in February 2026 with a target action date of December 12, 2026. Anaptys 10-Q.
The valuation contribution is harder to size without making heroic assumptions about pricing, uptake, and the generalized pustular psoriasis market. But the rough framing is simple:
- The regulatory milestone opportunity is small relative to ANAB’s market cap.
- The 10% royalty could matter if imsidolimab becomes a meaningful commercial product.
- The FDA action date gives investors a concrete 2026 catalyst.
So imsidolimab is not a reason, by itself, to pay $1.5 billion for ANAB’s non-cash assets. But it is also not irrelevant. If Jemperli is the main valuation pillar, imsidolimab is a smaller option attached to the same royalty vehicle.
The Litigation Could Change The Whole Jemperli Math
The uncomfortable part is the Jemperli litigation.
This is where we need to be blunt. If ANAB loses badly, the neat royalty table above stops being the right table.
GSK’s Tesaro unit sued Anaptys, arguing that alleged breaches would allow Tesaro to reduce royalty and milestone payments and secure a permanent license. GSK said in November that Tesaro was seeking to reduce royalties and milestone payments by 50%. GSK release.
Anaptys has since won an important preliminary ruling. In April, the Delaware Chancery Court dismissed Tesaro’s anticipatory breach claim. Anaptys said the ruling preserved the current contracted royalty rates and rejected Tesaro’s request for any royalty reduction. But the case is not over. Trial on Anaptys’s contract claims and its claimed right to seek reversion of Jemperli is scheduled for July 14-17, 2026. Anaptys litigation update.
That changes how I would frame the risk.
The worst outcome for ANAB is a material reduction in the Jemperli economics. If the royalty stream were cut by 50%, then the rough current run-rate gross royalty math would fall from about $128 million to about $64 million. At $2 billion of Jemperli sales, the rough royalty math would fall from about $240 million to about $120 million.
| Jemperli Annual Sales | Estimated Gross Royalty | If Cut By 50% |
|---|---|---|
| $1.4 billion | ~$128 million | ~$64 million |
| $2.0 billion | ~$240 million | ~$120 million |
| $2.5 billion | ~$340 million | ~$170 million |
That is a completely different valuation. At the current annualized run rate, a $1.5 billion ex-cash valuation against a $64 million gross royalty stream would look much harder to defend. Even at $2 billion of Jemperli sales, a 50% cut would turn what looks like a reasonable growth royalty story into a much more fully priced one.
On the other hand, Anaptys’s April court win reduced the most direct near-term fear of an immediate royalty cut. It also kept alive Anaptys’s more aggressive claim that Tesaro/GSK breached the agreement and that Anaptys could seek reversion of Jemperli. I would not put much value on reversion without doing real legal work, but it does mean the litigation is not purely defensive from Anaptys’s perspective.
So the litigation creates a wider range of outcomes than a normal royalty story:
- Base case: Anaptys keeps the current Jemperli economics and Jemperli keeps growing.
- Downside case: the royalty economics are reduced or impaired, making today’s valuation much harder to justify.
- Upside legal case: Anaptys wins meaningful contractual relief, though that is too speculative to underwrite casually.
That is why ANAB is interesting, but not simple. Investors are not just betting on Jemperli sales. They are betting on Jemperli sales multiplied by contract enforceability.
TRAX: The Pipeline Company
First Tracks is the other side of the transaction. It got the biopharma operations, the development programs, and the clinical-risk upside.
It also got cash. First Tracks said it launched on April 20 with $180 million in cash and cash equivalents, which it expects to provide a roughly two-year runway. First Tracks Q1 update.
At a recent TRAX price around $17.66, the market cap is roughly $616 million. If we subtract the $180 million of launch cash, the market is assigning roughly $435 million to the pipeline and platform.
| TRAX Valuation Snapshot | Approximate Amount |
|---|---|
| Recent market cap | ~$616 million |
| Launch cash | ~$180 million |
| Implied value of pipeline/platform | ~$435 million |
That is the important number. TRAX is not trading like a forgotten cash box. The market is already giving the pipeline several hundred million dollars of value.
That may be fair. It may even be too low. But it is not free.
First Tracks is advancing ANB033, a CD122 antagonist, in Phase 1b trials for celiac disease and eosinophilic esophagitis. The company said top-line Phase 1b data in celiac disease are expected in Q4 2026, while eosinophilic esophagitis data are expected in mid-2027. First Tracks also said it completed an End-of-Phase 2 meeting with the FDA for rosnilimab in rheumatoid arthritis and is evaluating strategic options for that asset, including potential partnership, out-license, or asset financing. First Tracks Q1 update.
That gives TRAX a real calendar. The stock is not just waiting for investors to notice that it exists. It needs data.
ANB033 is the key near-term program. Celiac disease is a large and frustrating market, and there is real unmet need. Eosinophilic esophagitis is also a serious indication with commercial interest. But early immunology data have a way of being more exciting in presentation decks than in later trials. The market has paid tuition on that lesson many times.
Rosnilimab is different. Rheumatoid arthritis is a large market, but also a brutal one. A small company needs a very clear differentiation story, or a partner with a reason to care. The fact that First Tracks is talking about strategic options for the asset tells us it may not want to carry the full development burden alone. It bears noting that a number of big pharma blockbusters are coming off patent soon and a new RA drug may be very attractive to those companies.
So the TRAX question is not “does it have cash?” It does. The question is whether the pipeline is worth the roughly $435 million the market is already assigning to it after backing out launch cash.
For TRAX to work well from here, one of two things probably needs to happen. Either ANB033 produces enough data to make investors believe the lead program is worth much more than the current implied pipeline value, or rosnilimab finds a partner or path that makes its value more concrete. If neither happens before the runway starts to shrink, TRAX becomes a more familiar small-biotech story: cash burn, data risk, and the next financing question.
Which Piece Looks More Interesting?
The cleaner setup is ANAB.
That does not mean it is cheap. It means the question is easier to understand. ANAB is now mostly about Jemperli royalties, the royalty dispute, cash, overhead, and what management does with the money. You can be wrong about all of that, but at least you know what you are trying to answer.
The math is not crazy if Jemperli keeps growing. At the current annualized sales run rate, the royalty stream looks useful but not obviously mispriced. If Jemperli pushes deeper into the higher royalty tiers, the numbers get better quickly. If the royalty dispute cuts into the economics, or if sales flatten before the higher tiers matter, the excitement fades.
That is the ANAB story. It is not biotech magic. It is: how much is this royalty stream worth, how much of it does Anaptys really keep, and will management avoid doing something dumb with the cash?
TRAX is more exciting, but also easier to fool yourself about.
It has cash, which is good. It has programs, which is necessary. But it is not trading as if the pipeline is free. After backing out launch cash, the market is still giving the pipeline more than $400 million of value. That may be right. It may even be too low. But you need to believe something specific about ANB033, rosnilimab, or the rest of the pipeline to get there.
“Small biotech spinoff with cash” is not, by itself, a bargain. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it is just a smaller biotech with a ticking clock.
| Company | The Bet | What Has To Go Right | What Can Go Wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANAB | Royalty value and capital discipline | Jemperli keeps growing, the royalty economics hold, and management preserves or returns value | The royalty dispute hurts the economics, sales disappoint, or management starts spending like a biotech again |
| TRAX | Pipeline upside | ANB033, rosnilimab, or another program produces data that makes the pipeline worth more than today’s implied value | The data disappoint, cash burn rises, or the company needs money before the market is impressed |
The spinoff does make the choice cleaner. ANAB is the royalty/cash vehicle. TRAX is the pipeline bet.
That is useful. It just does not make either stock automatically cheap.
AnaptysBio and First Tracks- Two Potential Winners With Big Ifs
For AnaptysBio to be a winner, it needs to prevail in its litigation and Vanda needs gain approval for Imsidolimab and grow sales.
FirstTracks needs positive developments in one or both of the lead compounds its pipeline before it runs out of cash in 2 years. Specifically clinical readouts on ANB033 late this year and next and a path forward for rosnilimab, which is a potential blockbuster in rheumatoid arthritis.
These are all potential catalysts(or negative events) that we should know more about in the next 6-12 months. It promises to be an exciting year for both companies: parent AnaptysBio and spinoff First Tracks.
Disclosure: the author holds no position in any stock mentioned