Programs Focused on Developing Novel Anti-Inflammatory Drugs, including Scientifically Developed, Non-Psychoactive Cannabinoids that Target Key Pathways in Inflammatory Diseases
KBL Merger Corp. IV (KBLM) (“KBLM”), a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), announced today that it has executed a definitive business combination agreement for the merger of a wholly owned subsidiary of KBLM with CannBioRx Life Sciences Corp. (“CannBioRx”), a drug development company focused on treating inflammatory diseases. The transaction is subject to the approval by KBLM’s and CannBioRx’s respective shareholders. There can be no assurance that the proposed transaction will be completed on the terms set forth in the definitive agreement, or at all.
CannBioRx has three synergistic programs that operate at the intersection of the biotech and cannabis industries:
- A clinical-stage program focused on the discovery and development of novel therapies to treat fibrosis. This fully enrolled Phase 2b program expects results in Dupuytren’s disease during the fourth quarter of 2020.
- A preclinical cannabinoid program focused on the development and commercialization of unique pharmaceutical-grade cannabinoids for arthritis, pain, diabetes and obesity.
- A preclinical program developing innovative, orally available therapies harnessing the brain’s nicotinic receptors to treat inflammatory diseases, such as ulcerative colitis, gout and multiple sclerosis.
“These three unique programs will enable us to efficiently target several key pathways in inflammation and capitalize on two decades of extensive scientific research on the relationship between cannabinoids and inflammation,” said Prof. Sir Marc Feldmann, Founder and Co-Chairman of CannBioRx. “We believe that the use of synergistic combination therapies across our programs could be important for providing cost-effective healthcare in the future. We also believe that creating an entity and robust pipeline in each of its programs diversifies our risk. We are a global company comprised of senior scientists affiliated with Oxford, Stanford and Hebrew Universities. We intend to not only advance drug development and clinical trials for existing programs but also to identify new patent-protected compounds, including novel cannabinoids that expand our therapeutic impact in the industry.”
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“Upon the completion of the transaction, we expect to be one of a limited number of NASDAQ-listed companies developing non-plant-touching, pharmaceutical-grade, non-psychoactive cannabinoids. These drugs are intended to provide safer, uniform dosing, according to regulatory agency standards,” added Dr. Marlene Krauss, CEO of KBLM, who will also assume the role of CEO of the combined company. “We believe that CannBioRx’s distinctive position is enhanced by the fact that the cannabinoid program is being developed in tandem with its other novel drug development programs that are also focused on inflammation. The programs range from pre-clinical programs to a program in a Phase 2b clinical trial. This could potentially provide us with a pipeline of drug candidates in sequential stages of development and addresses what we believe to be large untapped markets.”
The founders and co-chairmen of CannBioRx, Prof. Sir Marc Feldmann and Prof. Lawrence Steinman, will be charged with leading the drug development programs of the combined company. They both have significant expertise in developing new therapeutics that resulted in billion-dollar markets. Lasker awardee Prof. Feldmann performed groundbreaking work in discovering and developing anti-TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor) therapy. The license of his patent to Centocor Biotech led to the development of Remicade1, and AbbVie licensed his patents for use with Humira2.
Additionally, Prof. Steinman’s work led to the development of Tysabri for treating multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease, which was sold to Biogen and currently generates approximately $2 billion in revenue. Prof. Steinman also founded Neurocrine Biosciences, which currently has a market capitalization of approximately $7.7 billion.
Dr. Jonathan Rothbard, CannBioRx’s Chief Scientific Officer, was involved in establishing Amylin Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2012 for $7 billion. He was also involved in establishing the early-stage biotech companies ImmuLogic Pharmaceutical Corp, CellGate and Cardinal Therapeutics.
“We look forward to working with this stellar team in combination with our decades of expertise in financing, as well as growing and managing public and private companies,” concluded Dr. Krauss. “Our mission is to create value for our investors and new modalities of treatment that can potentially be effective in treating illnesses that affect millions of people. Our teams are working together to close the transaction in a timely manner.”
Date: July 29, 2019
Source: <span style=”color: #000000;”><a style=”color: #000000;” href=”https://finance.yahoo.com/news/kbl-merger-corp-iv-spac-130000734.html” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Yahoo Finance</a></span>
