OrphAI Therapeutics, Inc.

They say stick to what you know. And Paragon Therapeutics knows how to do reverse mergers. In a deal announced Tuesday, the hub-and-spoke biologics company is moving its migraine drug offshoot Mentari Therapeutics onto the public markets through a takeover of InMed Pharmaceuticals. Paragon has taken eight companies public, and seven of those have been through reverse mergers, in which a private company acquires an often-struggling public one and takes its place on the exchange, bypassing the IPO process. The Mentari-InMed transaction includes a $290 million private placement from some of the most well-known biotech investors. Fairmount, Deep Track Capital, a16z Bio + Health, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, TCGX, RTW Investments and other leading names participated. Those concurrent private placement investors will own about 69% of the combined business following the all-stock deal, according to a corporate presentation . InMed stockholders will retain only 1.51% and existing Mentari shareholders will own about 30%. The company will continue to trade on the Nasdaq. InMed had fallen into penny stock territory before the deal. The Vancouver-based company had been working on CB1/CB2-targeted small molecules for Alzheimer’s, ocular disease and dermatological conditions. It also had a cannabinoid supply subsidiary called BayMedica, which will wind down . A few biotechs have chosen the reverse merger route this year, including Orphai Therapeutics’ move to take the place of Quince Therapeutics. T cell engager biotech Candid Therapeutics, meanwhile, nixed its reverse merger in favor of a $2 billion upfront sale to UCB. Eleven biotechs have elected to take the traditional IPO route this year. Paragon’s playbook has been to develop biologics that iterate on already-approved medicines or late-stage experimental therapies, and Mentari is no different. It’s chasing already-approved drugs in the CGRP class as well as an investigational approach to migraines that Lundbeck and others are leading. Mentari will begin with a monoclonal antibody called MT-001. It plans to ask for clinical trial clearance in the middle of this year, collect Phase 1 data in the middle of 2027, and then Phase 2a proof-of-concept data in 2028, according to a corporate presentation. MT-001 targets pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptides, or PACAPs. Abnormal signaling can drive pain, inflammation and migraines. Lundbeck unveiled Phase 2b data for its IV-delivered PACAP drug, bocunebart (Lu AG09222), earlier this year. Lundbeck’s executive vice president of R&D Johan Luthman has previously said the new class of medicines could potentially address a “broader spectrum of migraine biology.” Eli Lilly dropped a monoclonal antibody in this space in 2022. Mentari plans to build on that approach by pairing it with the established CGRP class. The company is developing a bispecific antibody that targets both CGRP and PACAP. Known as MT-002, it is slated for Phase 1 next year and Phase 2a proof-of-concept data by the end of 2028. The company doesn’t appear to have an executive team yet. Its board chair is Fairmount growth partner Julie Bruno. Fairmount is the main investor in Paragon, which has its own C-suite that guides the early development of its biotech spinouts. Bruno said the recent anti-PACAP studies have “validated this novel mechanism and generated tremendous excitement among headache specialists.” The deal will allow Mentari to “aggressively compete in what we believe will be the next era of migraine prevention,” she said in a press release.

Plus, news about Accro Bioscience, Hansa Biopharma, Shanghai Best-Link Bioscience and UCB. Full-Life Technologies gets $150M: The radiotherapy company has raised $110 million in a Series D round and another $40 million in debt financing. The company plans to use the Series D to fund its clinical stage assets, including its 225Ac-FL-020 for prostate cancer and its 225Ac-FL-261 candidate for multiple solid tumor indications.  Full-Life will also use the funds to start manufacturing the radioisotope actinium-225 at its factory in Belgium. The financing was led by Vivo Capital, along with SK, Chengwei Capital, HSG, Junson Capital, Yunion, Plaisance, Sky9 Capital, TSG Capital and others. — Anna Brown Quince finds a new life: Public biotech Quince Therapeutics reverse-merged with private drug developer Orphai Therapeutics in a deal that includes $115 million upfront and up to $72 million additionally down the road. Well-known life sciences investors took part, including Cormorant, Foresite and others. In conjunction with the deal, Orphai disclosed Phase 2a data for its inhaled version of rapamycin in pulmonary arterial hypertension and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease. Quince had failed a Phase 3 in January, prompting the company to look for alternatives. — Kyle LaHucik China biotech gets $50M: Suzhou-based Accro Bioscience secured a Series C from OrbiMed, TCG Crossover, Lilly Asia Ventures, Shenzhen Capital Group and others. The company is working on regulated cell death and will use the money for a Phase 2b of its RIPK2 inhibitor, dubbed AC-101, in ulcerative colitis. Another biotech in that target space, Massachusetts and Michigan startup Odyssey Therapeutics, raised a $279 million IPO earlier this month. — Kyle LaHucik SERB Pharmaceuticals buys rights to Hansa Biopharma drug: The Belgian specialty pharma company will acquire the development and commercialization rights to Hansa’s Idefirix for €115 million ($127 million). The rights pertain to the EU, UK, Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland and the Middle East and North Africa region. The drug still needs to be filed with the European Medicines Agency, and Hansa will support SERB with that process. — Kyle LaHucik Best-Link Bioscience raises Series C: The Shanghai biotech collected a 400 million yuan ($58 million) funding round just five months after disclosing a 200 million yuan ($29 million) Series B. The five-year-old biotech is in Phase 2a in the US, China and Australia with a treatment candidate called BL0020 for small cell lung cancer. It also has a protein degrader named BL0175 in Phase 1 for breast cancer. — Kyle LaHucik UCB’s Bimzelx beats Skyrizi: The drugmaker said its medicine had superior joint outcomes at week 16 compared to AbbVie’s Skyrizi in adults with psoriatic arthritis. UCB said it was the first approved biologic to show statistically significant superiority on that measurement in a head-to-head trial in that indication. The data come after UCB made two acquisition announcements in recent weeks. — Kyle LaHucik

At the time of its January failure, Quince had enough cash to last only through the second quarter of this year.\n After launching a hunt for strategic alternatives in January following a phase 3 rare disease flop, Quince Therapeutics has landed on an exit strategy. The Bay Area biotech has announced a merger with a private pulmonary startup called Orphai Therapeutics.The deal is an all-stock transaction similar to a reverse merger, with the combined company to maintain Quince’s Nasdaq listing, according to a May 18 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Quince stockholders will own 6.9% of the merged biotech, while the rest will be held by Orphai’s existing shareholders and a new crop of investors.Quince began seeking salvation after its lead candidate for ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T), a rare pediatric neurodegenerative disorder, failed to meet the primary and secondary endpoints of the phase 3 Neat trial. Quince’s approach was to engineer patients’ red blood cells to deliver a steady stream of therapeutic steroids and then reinfuse them.At the time of that January failure, Quince only had enough cash to last through the second quarter of this year. That fail followed an earlier phase 3 stumble in a wider age range of children. Data from this earlier trial hinted that focusing on 6-to-9-year-olds could be fruitful, which prompted Quince to launch Neat.A-T, also known as Louis-Bar syndrome, is a rare genetic disease that affects the nervous system and the immune system. Caused by mutations in the ATM gene, the disease begins in early childhood with the first signs being unsteady movements and poor coordination, known as ataxia.Orphai’s lead asset is a version of rapamycin, LAM-001, in midstage development for high blood pressure in the lungs associated with interstitial lung disease, among other pulmonary indications. As part of the merger, Orphai’s CEO, Brigette Roberts, M.D., has joined Quince as chief of corporate affairs and will also serve on the biotech’s board. Roberts initially joined Orphai as chief medical officer in February 2021 before quickly ascending to the CEO seat.