Eiger BioPharmaceuticals Inc (EIGRQ)

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Celladon Corp (NASDAQ:CLDN) And Eiger BioPharmaceuticals Sign Merger Agreement

http://www.financialstrend.com/celladon-corp-nasdaqcldn-and-eiger-biopharmaceuticals-sign-merger-agreement-23892.html

Celladon Corp (NASDAQ:CLDN) reported that it has finalized a definitive merger deal with a privately held biopharmaceutical firm known as Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc. Under the finalized agreement the stockholders of Eiger BioPharmaceuticals would become the majority stake owners of Celladon, and the businesses of Eiger and Celladon would be combined. The announced merger deal remains subject to certain conditions, such as the approval of Celladon shareholders. If the deal gets approved, after closing of the deal, Celladon will be renamed as “Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc.”

The details

An investor organization has committed to invest nearly $40 million in the new combined entity including new investors RA Capital Management, HBM Healthcare Investments, Sphera Global Healthcare,Sabby Management, Monashee Capital Partners and Perceptive Advisors together with existing Eiger stockholders, InterWest Partners and ViVo Capital. Six million dollars financing has been funded, and the remaining funds of $33.5 million is projected to complete contemporaneously with the close of the proposed deal.

The cash balance of the combined entity upon the closing of the deal and the financing is estimated to surpass $60 million. This merger deal will create a clinical-stage firm with a diversified development portfolio of candidates addressing unique targets for four different orphan diseases: bariatric surgery-resulted hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia, Hepatitis Delta Virus, lymphedema and pulmonary arterial hypertension.

The expert speaks

David Cory, the CEO of Eiger, said that the concurrent financing and the proposed merger deal are expected to be sufficient to enable the combined entity to receive Phase II clinical study data from at least two of the total four designed development plans by late 2016. The company has an experienced and dedicated management team in place and implementing on these four novel plans, all of which target potentially large markets with significant unmet medical needs. Celladon Corp (NASDAQ:CLDN)’s CEO Paul Cleveland said that after an extensive assessment of strategic alternatives, they have finalized for the merger deal with Eiger.