Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Soars 50% Following OnCore Biopharma Merger

Shares of Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation TKMR surged 50 percent higher Monday following the announcement that the company will merge with OnCore Biopharma, Inc.

The new company will focus on developing a curative regimen for hepatitis B patients by combining multiple therapeutic approaches.

The combined pipeline is expected to target the three pillars necessary to develop a curative regimen for HBV, including assets focused on suppressing HBV replication, reactivating and stimulating the host immune response directed at HBV and eliminating covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA). The parties believe that, together, these three pillars are the foundation for achieving a curative regimen.

Under the terms of the agreement, the transaction will be carried out by way of a merger pursuant to which OnCore will merge with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tekmira and thereby become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tekmira. Upon closing of the transaction the stockholders of OnCore will hold approximately 50 percent of the total number of outstanding shares of capital stock of Tekmira, calculated on a fully-diluted and as-converted basis using the treasury stock method.

The implied market value of the combined company, based on the $15.70 closing price of Tekmira common shares on the NASDAQ Global Market on January 9, 2015, was approximately $750 million.

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals recently traded at $23.20 in the premarket, up 48 percent.