TorreyPines, Axonyx to reverse-merge
TorreyPines (La Jolla, Calif.) and AXYX will reverse-merge to form TorreyPines Therapeutics Inc., which is expected to trade on NASDAQ under the symbol TPTX. The newco will focus on migraine, chronic pain and Alzheimer's disease (AD). TorreyPines stockholders will own 58% of the combined company, and AXYX stockholders will own 42%. The combined companies had about $80 million in cash at the end of the first quarter.
The newco will have three products in clinical development, including two from TorreyPines: tezampanel, an AMPA/kainate (AK) receptor antagonist in Phase II testing to treat chronic pain; and NGX267, a cholinergic muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M1 (CHRM1)(HM1) agonist in Phase I testing to treat AD. The company hopes to start a Phase IIb trial of tezampanel to treat migraine by the second quarter of 2007. The third product is from AXYX: Posiphen, a positive isomer of phenserine in Phase I testing to treat AD. AXYX discontinued development of phenserine in November after it failed Phase III trials to treat AD. ...