XOMA Royalty Corporation said it has signed definitive agreements to buy two struggling biotechnology companies, HilleVax and LAVA Therapeutics, in separate cash-and-contingent value right (CVR) transactions aimed at expanding its portfolio of royalty interests. For Boston-based HilleVax, XOMA will pay $1.95 in cash per share and issue a non-transferable CVR that entitles holders to any cash above roughly $103 million on the target’s balance sheet, a portion of savings from an office lease termination and 90% of proceeds from any sale or licence of its shelved norovirus vaccine programs. A tender offer is due to begin by 18 August, with closing expected in September, and the HilleVax board has unanimously backed the deal, which values the company at about $98 million. XOMA’s offer for Netherlands-based LAVA Therapeutics ranges from $1.16 to $1.24 in cash per share, plus a CVR worth 75% of net proceeds from LAVA’s partnered gamma-delta T-cell engager projects and any sale or out-licensing of its remaining pipeline. The tender offer is slated to launch by 15 August and close in the fourth quarter, subject to at least 80% of shares being tendered and other customary conditions. LAVA will wind down its Phase 1 AML program as part of the agreement, and its board has also given unanimous approval. The twin acquisitions continue XOMA’s strategy of purchasing royalty and milestone rights in distressed or late-stage assets. The company has been active in so-called “biotech-zombie” deals this year, adding the HilleVax and LAVA agreements to recent purchases such as Turnstone Biologics, as it seeks long-term upside from assets abandoned by cash-constrained developers.