By Rob Curran
Aerovate Therapeutics agreed to merge with privately held Jade Biosciences in an all-stock transaction, forming a company focused on a kidney-disease treatment and other products.
After the merger, the company will trade as Jade Biosciences on the Nasdaq Composite under the ticker symbol JBIO. It will seek to develop Jade-001, a treatment for kidney condition IgA nephropathy, among other Jade drug candidates.
Jade was launched in August, the fourth company based on assets developed by Paragon Therapeutics. Jade has secured $300 million in backing for the merger from an investment consortium led by money managers Fairmount, Venrock Healthcare Capital and another unnamed firm. Prior to closing, Aerovate intends to declare a dividend, distributing cash of an estimated $65 million.
The merged biotech companies will have enough cash on hand to fund operations through 2027 and advance JADE-001 to initial clinical proof-of-concept.
In July, Aerovate had pledged to pursue strategic alternatives following the halt of a late-stage clinical trial for a blood-pressure treatment.
Shares of Aerovate rose 23% to $2.70 in premarket trading.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 31, 2024 08:40 ET (12:40 GMT)
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