Benzinga - Vallon Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: VLON) shares are up more than 105% Wednesday morning after the company entered into a definitive merger agreement with GRI Bio.
GRI Bio is a privately held biotechnology company advancing an innovative pipeline of Natural Killer T cell regulators for the treatment of inflammatory, fibrotic and autoimmune diseases.
GRI Bio will merge with a subsidiary of Vallon in an all-stock transaction. The combined company will focus on advancing GRI Bio's pipeline of NKT cell regulators.
Altium Capital agreed to invest approximately $15 million at the close of the merger. The firm also committed to an additional $10 million future investment in the combined company.
"GRI Bio provides an exciting opportunity for value creation by advancing a potentially deep pipeline leveraging its innovative NKT regulator technology. Our board and management believe the combined company will be well positioned with the potential to address shortcomings that exist with current therapeutic treatments targeting inflammation and fibrosis across a number of high-value indications," said David Baker, CEO of Vallon.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023. Following the closing of the merger, the combined company will operate under the name "GRI Bio Inc" and be listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "GRI."
VLON Price Action: Vallon has a 52-week high of $8.40 and a 52-week low of 20 cents.
The stock was up 105.2% at 52 cents at time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.
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