(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) (NASDAQ:TKMR) () a Canadian biopharmaceutical company surged 50 percent in New York premarket after agreeing to merge with Pennsylvania-based OnCore BioPharma.
Tekmira’s U.S.-listed shares soared to $23.25 at 8:30 a.m. They had closed at $15.70 up 5.1 percent on Jan. 9.
The implied market value of the merged company is about US$750 million based on Tekmira stock's closing price of US$15.70 on the Nasdaq on Jan. 9 the companies said in a statement late yesterday.
OnCore will become a wholly-owned unit of Tekmira and upon closing of the transaction OnCore shareholders will hold about 50 percent of the total outstanding shares of Tekmira.
Tekmira's chief executive officer Mark Murray will remain CEO of the merged company. OnCore's chairman Vivek Ramaswamy will be the chairman of the combined company.
The merged company will focus on developing an all-oral cure for hepatitis B virus (HBV) treatment. Tekmira brings an RNAi therapeutic TKM-HBV to the marriage which will enter into a Phase 1 ascending dose trial this quarter. A Phase 2 study is planned for H2 which will involve HBV-infected patients in a multi-dosing regimen.
OnCore Biopharma has multiple HBV programs. Its lead product is OCB-030 a second-generation cyclophilin inhibitor focused on the suppression of viral replication. It is expected to enter into a Phase 1 trial in H2.
“We believe that the merger between Tekmira and OnCore has the potential to transform the HBV treatment landscape by bringing together the technologies and science needed to eradicate the virus and develop a cure for this debilitating and deadly disease” Murray said in the statement.
The combined pipeline is expected to target the three pillars necessary to develop a curative regimen for HBV including assets focused on suppressing HBV replication reactivating and stimulating the host immune response directed at HBV and eliminating covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA).
British Colombia Canada-based Tekmira also said it will continue with its oncology and anti-viral programs including Ebola. Tekmira said last year it supplied one of its experimental Ebola treatments for clinical studies to be in conducted in West Africa.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2015.
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