Ligand Pharmaceuticals Acquires xCella Biosciences & Taurus Biosciences

Represented Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated in two acquisitions, which closed one day apart, in support of Ligand’s OmniAb human antibody discovery platform based on the use of transgenic animals - xCella Biosciences, Inc. ($7 million in cash plus potential earnouts) and Taurus Biosciences LLC ($5 million in cash plus non-transferable contingent value rights). xCella, based in Menlo Park, California, features the xPloration™ platform, a proprietary microcapillary platform that can screen single B cells for specificity and bioactivity.  San Diego-based Taurus discovers and develops novel antibodies from immunized cows and cow-inspired libraries.