DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Adgero Biopharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc. announced the companies have entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which DelMar, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of new solid tumor cancer therapies, will acquire Adgero, a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of its late stage photodynamic therapy platform for the treatment of serious cutaneous oncology indications. In an all-equity transaction, Adgero stockholders will receive shares of DelMar common stock for shares of Adgero common stock.
Upon completion of the merger, current DelMar and Adgero stockholders will own 50.5% and 49.5% of the total voting power of the combined company, respectively, exclusive of securities to be issued in a financing to occur prior to the merger closing, as well as compensation payable in connection with the merger and the financing. Subject to stockholder approval of both companies and other closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2020, at which time DelMar is expected to change its name to Kintara Therapeutics, Inc. and trade on Nasdaq under the new ticker symbol “KTRA.”
This combination brings together DelMar’s first-in-class, DNA-targeting chemotherapeutic with proven anti-cancer activities with Adgero’s photodynamic therapy platform. The combined company expects to benefit from complementary capabilities along with greater financial resources and flexibility to engage in a wide range of research and development activities that the companies believe will ultimately result in the creation of sustainable long-term growth.
“The acquisition of Adgero by DelMar positions the combined company for long-term corporate growth and increased shareholder value by bringing together DelMar’s oncology therapeutic candidate, VAL-083, and Adgero’s REM-001 photodynamic therapy with a lead indication in CMBC,” commented Saiid Zarrabian, President and Chief Executive Officer of DelMar. “This acquisition is the result of an extensive search for a suitable oncology therapy and provides the combined company with a diversified, late-stage oncology pipeline. During the next 12-18 months, we expect to achieve significant clinical milestones, driven by a seasoned leadership team that will bolster our oncology drug development expertise.”
Mr. Zarrabian continued, “The clinical data from Adgero’s REM-001 has demonstrated significant anti-tumor efficacy to date, with 80% complete responses reported across four studies in CMBC, and we believe it will be a valuable late-stage pipeline complement to DelMar’s VAL-083 as we prepare for the GBM AGILE registration study.”
John Liatos, interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Adgero, added, “This combination provides us with the opportunity to not only deepen our pipeline but also strengthen our oncology drug development expertise and capabilities. Furthermore, our enthusiasm to merge with DelMar was reinforced by the Global Coalition for Adaptive Research’s (GCAR) invitation to include VAL-083 in its GBM AGILE pivotal study for the treatment of newly-diagnosed and recurrent GBM. This is an important milestone with the potential to greatly reduce VAL-083’s development timeline and speaks to the potential of VAL-083 given that only a limited number of drug candidates will be invited to participate in the study. On our end, we are tremendously proud of the progress we have accomplished to date, and through this combination we look forward to creating a highly focused oncology company that can develop new therapies to help physicians and patients combat cancers where current treatment options are limited.”