Arpida, Evolva deal

Evolva plans to raise funds in an equity financing and subsequently reverse-merge with Arpida in a stock deal. The companies said Evolva will conduct an equity financing prior to the deal's completion and that investors have "signalled funding interest in excess of CHF25 million" ($23.7 million). Evolva shareholders will own two thirds of the newco, and Arpida shareholders will own one third, with the final ownership reflecting any additional funds raised by Evolva prior to closing. The companies said the newco, which will be named Evolva, will have cash through the end of 2012. At June 30, Arpida had CHF20.5 million ($19 million) in cash and a six-month operating loss of CHF14 million ($13 million).

Evolva's lead compound is EV-077, an oral thromboxane receptor antagonist and thromboxane synthase inhibitor in Phase I testing for renal disease and arterial thrombosis. It also has compounds in preclinical testing for infectious diseases. The companies will decide on the further development of Arpida's IV iclaprim for complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSIs) after receiving a recommendation from EMEA's CHMP, which is expected next month. Arpida received a complete response from FDA for the broad-spectrum antibiotic that inhibits dihydrofolate reductase in January, after which the company said it would pursue strategic options (see BioCentury, Jan. 26 & March 9). ...