CK Life unit to merge with Nasdaq biotech

Staff reporter

CK Life Sciences International (0775) said its wholly-owned subsidiary will merge with Nasdaq-listed biotech Virios Therapeutics.

The combined entity will be renamed Dogwood Therapeutics and remain a listed entity on Nasdaq after the transaction, according to a filing to the Hong Kong bourse yesterday.

CK Life plans to sell 100 percent shares in a Canadian company Pharmagesic to Virios at US$100 million (HK$780 million), which will enable the merger of Pharmagesic's unit Wex Pharmaceuticals with Virios.

Meanwhile, CK Life has also agreed, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, to provide up to US$19.5 million in the form of a loan as strategic financing to accelerate the development of Wex's clinical and research and development activities.

Virios is a development-stage biotech that has been listed on the Nasdaq stock market since December 2020. It includes two assets that use antiviral therapies to treat diseases thought to be associated with a viral-triggered abnormal immune response -- fibromyalgia and Long-Covid.

The merger is a milestone strategic move for CK Life Sciences, said Alan Yu, deputy chairman and executive director of CK Life Sciences.

It will enable Wex to tap into the US capital markets and strengthen its R&D team, Yu added.

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