Chronic inflammatory disease company Immunic Therapeutics starts Nasdaq-trade following merger with Vital Therapies.
Just two years following a €31.7 Series A investement, and a licence deal with Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd for commercialisation rights of IMU-856, a small molecule blocking proinflammatory Th17 und Th1 signalling designed to restore the dysfuctional gut barrier in patients with ulcerative colitis, Immunic Therapeutics’ shares are traded at Nasdaq. Immunic's investors (Omega Funds (USA) und Fund+ (Belgium) Life Sciences Partners, LifeCare Partners (Switzerland), Bayern Kapital, High-Tech Gründerfonds, IBG Risikokapitalfonds II (Germany) and private investors) invested €26.7m into Immunic Inc concurrently with a 40:1 stock-for-stock exchange transaction with public US-player Vital Therapies Inc, which merged with the German AG into Boston-headquartered Immunic Inc., which is now traded under the symbol “IMUX”.
Immunic will use US$30m of the assets to fincance development of its clinical candidates. According to the company, IMU-856 will enter Phase II-development by mid-2020. Besides Immunic's lead candidate IMU-838, a dihydro-orotate dehydrogenase inhibtor which is currently in Phase II testing in ulcerative colitis and relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis MS) and will start clinical test in Crohn' disease patients in Q3/2019, the company plans to push development of IMU-935 (previously named IMU 366), an inverse agonist of RORγt.
Daniel Vitt, Ph.D., serves as the company’s Chief Executive Officer and President. The new board of directors comprises five members: Dr. Vitt, Dr. Jörg Neermann of LSP, Dr. Vincent Ossipow of Omega Funds, and Mr. Jan Van den Bossche of Fund+. In addition, Dr. Duane Nash, M.D., J.D., M.B.A., previously Chief Executive Officer, President and a director of Vital Therapies, will continue on the company’s board of directors and serve as its Chairman.
On April 4, 2019, the stockholders of Vital Therapies had approved the stock-for-stock transaction. Immediately prior to the transaction, the company effectuated a 40:1 reverse stock split of shares of its common stock. Following the closing of the transaction and the reverse stock split, there were approximately 10.1 million issued and outstanding shares of the company’s common stock. As a result of a higher company net cash balance at closing, the final exchange ratio resulted in pre-closing Vital Therapies stockholders owning approximately 11.75% of the company, instead of the estimated previously disclosed 11%.
