Xoma To Buy Failed Mural, Ending The Short, Unsuccessful Run Of The Alkermes Spinoff

Barely 2 weeks ago, Mural Oncology(MURA) announced it would be winding down operations, and likely returning any remaining cash to shareholders. We estimated that the value to shareholders of the 2023 Alkermes(ALKS) spinoff would be slightly less than $2, a disappointing outcome, but at least not a total loss.

Today, Mural announced it had agreed to be acquired by XOMA Royalty(XOMA) for between $2.035 and $2.24 per share in cash, depending on how much is left at closing. By moving far more quickly than we anticipated, Mural managed to eek out a better value for shareholders than we had expected. Still a loss for longtime owners, but, perhaps, a little easier to swallow.

XOMA has been on a tear of late, acquiring multiple failed biotechs including HilleVax (HLVX), Lava Therapeutics (LVTX), and Turnstone Biologics (TSBX), usually using the target’s own cash and building up a pipeline of IP which it will presumably monetize through licensing and litigation.

Disclosure: the author owns no shares of any stock mentioned though he did once own shares in MURA and HLVX, sadly