Two rare disease companies – Idera Pharmaceuticals and Aceragen – are merging to pursue the common goal of an FDA approval that could come as early as 2024. For Idera, the merger is something of a lifeline after its top drug candidate flopped last year. On the other side, Aceragen is now a publicly traded company less than two years after launching. The all-stock deal will leave the merged companies with $26 million on hand.
Executives said this is enough cash to fund operations through August 2023. That’s when key data readouts from clinical trials are expected. Idera shareholders will end up with 33% of the combined company, which will continue to trade publicly under Idera’s stock symbol IDRA. But it’s Aceragen’s pipeline that will become the focus of the new company, and Aceragen’s executives will fill most of the new company’s top posts.
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