Therapix Biosciences Ltd. (TASE: TRPH) (formerly NasVax) today announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding to merge with Viropro Inc. (Bulletin Board:VPRO).
Therapix's share price rose 11% by mid-afternoon, to NIS 0.08, giving a market cap of NIS 9 million. Viropro has a market cap of $14.6 million, but the merger is expected to be between equals, despite the difference in market caps, assuming that a fair value assessment is submitted to support this.
Viropro will absorb Therapix and then divide Viropro's shares between the parties. Therapix CEO Ari Aminetzah will be the CEO of the merged company, and Viropro president and CEO Cynthia Ekberg Tsai will become CEO business development.
Therapix has two leading products: an anti-inflammatory drug, and a preventative treatment for Alzheimer's. Through subsidiaries, Viropro produces biological drugs and biosimilars for clinical trials by pharmaceutical companies, provides laboratory and consulting services, and produces stem cell lines. The company has technology for producing protein-based therapies, which it says are far cheaper than current technologies. The company hopes to produce a biogeneric insulin (biosimilar), which will be cheaper than many competitors on the market.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 4, 2013
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