BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

VIA, Corautus to reverse-merge

February 9, 2007 2:10 AM UTC

VIA (San Francisco, Calif.) and VEGF will reverse-merge in a stock-for-stock transaction to form VIA Pharmaceuticals Inc., which is expected to trade on NASDAQ under the symbol VIAP. VIA's stockholders will own about 76% of the combined company and VEGF stockholders will own about 24%. VEGF expects to have $12 million in cash when the deal closes, which is expected next quarter. VIA did not disclose its expected cash figure.

The newco will have one compound in clinical development, VIA-2291 from VIA. The 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor is in two Phase II studies to treat vascular inflammation: one trial in patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy and one trial in patients at risk for recurrent cardiovascular events following acute coronary syndrome. VIA acquired exclusive worldwide rights to VIA-2291 from Abbott (ABT) in 2005. ...