Toncoin-focused treasury company AlphaTON agrees to sell cancer treatment subsidiary

AlphaTON Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: ATON), the TON token-focused treasury and investment firm, is offloading a portion of its drug manufacturing portfolio, as it looks to focus attention on growing Telegram’s blockchain ecosystem.

According to a Tuesday release, Immunova is exercising a call option to acquire iOx Therapeutics Limited, a wholly owned AlphaTON subsidiary developing liposomal iNKT agonists.

AlphaTON was formed through a major pivot and rebranding of the existing public company formerly known as Portage Biotech Inc., a biotech firm focused on cancer treatments. Portage’s iOx unit focused on immuno-oncology applications, according to the announcement.

It is entitled to “equity consideration representing 10% of the fully diluted equity” of Immunova at the time of exercise and other milestone payments and royalties, "potentially exceeding $100 million."

“Executing this agreement is an important step to unlock value from iOx while preserving meaningful long-term economic participation for AlphaTON,” AlphaTON CEO Brittany Kaiser said. “iOx is a differentiated, clinically supported lipid-based immune program, and placing it with Immunova enables dedicated execution under a focused development platform.”

Kaiser noted AlphaTON will “continue to advance our mesothelioma program, where we remain on track to dose the first patient with TT-4,” among other “Telegram-oriented, AI-driven biotech initiatives aimed at rare cancers.”

In addition to holding a large TON token stake, AlphaTON also invests in and builds infrastructure, applications, and assets within the Telegram and The Open Network (TON) ecosystems, including Telegram's decentralized Cocoon AI platform.

ATON stock is trading around $0.47 at publication time, down over 3% on the day and nearly 39% year-to-date, according to Google Finance.