Virios and Wex Merge To Create Dogwood Therapeutics, Advancing Neuropathic Pain, Fibromyalgia and Long-COVID Therapies

Virios Therapeutics, Inc. and Wex Pharmaceuticals, a subordinate of CK Life Sciences, have announced a definitive share exchange agreement with Sealbond Limited, Wex's parent company. This agreement will merge the companies in an all-stock transaction, forming Dogwood Therapeutics, Inc. The new company will focus on advancing three critical clinical assets: Halneuron®, in Phase 2b development for chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain; IMC-1, preparing for Phase 3 trials for fibromyalgia; and IMC-2, in Phase 2 for Long-COVID treatment.

To support the merger, the company has secured $19.5 million in debt financing from an affiliate of CK Life Sciences, with $16.5 million available at closing and an additional $3 million expected in early 2025, pending conditions. This funding will help advance research, including the anticipated Phase 2b interim analysis of Halneuron® in 2H25.

Dogwood will be guided by a team of seasoned professionals, featuring Chief Executive Officer Greg Duncan, Chief Medical Officer Mike Gendreau, M.D., PhD, Senior Vice President of Operations Ralph Grosswald, Chief Financial Officer Angela Walsh, and Vice President of Manufacturing Meng Zhou. The Board of Directors is made up of Rick Keefer, John Thomas, Dr. Richard Whitely, Dr. Abel De La Rosa, Alan Yu, Melvin Toh, MBBS, with Greg Duncan serving as Chairman.

Greg Duncan, Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement, “This transaction represents our deep commitment to delivering value to stockholders by expanding our pipeline with a synergistic, novel program while also providing the upside opportunity for existing Virios stockholders to receive future cash payments through CVRs for potential licensing partnerships relating to IMC-1 and IMC-2, With the anticipated funding and an accomplished management team, we believe Dogwood is well-positioned to advance its programs by leveraging its FDA Fast Track designations for IMC-1 and Halneuron®.”

Mike Gendreau, M.D., PhD, Chief Medical Officer, commented “Both preclinical and clinical data support sodium channel inhibition as a non-opioid approach to treat CINP, which can be a long-term condition affecting approximately one in three patients following chemotherapy. Halneuron® is a voltage-gated sodium channel inhibitor that modulates the transmission of pain signals, a mechanism proven to treat pain, with the potential to serve as a non-opioid treatment for both acute and chronic pain, including CINP, for which there are currently no FDA approved treatments.”

Starting October 9, 2024, the Company will officially rebrand from “Virios Therapeutics, Inc.” to “Dogwood Therapeutics, Inc.” As part of this transition, the Company’s common stock will stop trading under the ticker symbol “VIRI” and will begin trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the new ticker symbol “DWTX” from the start of trading on that date.