London – February 24, 2023 – Cooley advised Redx Pharma, a UK clinical-stage biotechnology company, on its all share merger with Jounce Therapeutics, a US clinical-stage immunotherapy company, in a $425 million and contingent value right transaction. London-based lawyers Michal Berkner, Claire Keast-Butler, Russell Anderson and Rita Sobral led the joint UK and US Cooley team advising Redx.
The merger will create a transatlantic organization with expertise in small-molecule drugs and biologics, as well as a clinical pipeline with multiple value inflection points in the near and medium term. Named Redx Inc., the combined company will be headquartered in the UK, with a drug discovery and clinical development team in the US.
Redx is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel, small-molecule, targeted therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, fibrotic disease and the emerging area of cancer-associated fibrosis. It initially aims to progress these therapeutics to clinical proof of concept before evaluating options for further development and potential value creation. The company’s lead fibrosis product candidate, the selective ROCK2 inhibitor RXC007, is in development for interstitial lung disease and commenced a phase 2a trial for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in October 2022. Its lead oncology product candidate, the Porcupine inhibitor RXC004, which is being developed as a targeted treatment for Wnt-ligand-dependent cancers, commenced a phase 2 program in November 2021 and is progressing through trials. Redx’s third drug candidate, RXC008, a gastrointestinal-targeted ROCK inhibitor for the treatment of fibrostenotic Crohn’s disease, is progressing toward an investigational new drug and clinical trial application at the end of 2023.
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