Xcovery Acquires Majority Controlling Stake in Meryx Pharmaceuticals

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Xcovery Holdings, Inc., an oncology focused bio-pharmaceutical company, is proud to announce the acquisition of a majority and controlling stake in Meryx Inc., a clinical stage immuno-oncology company based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina developing TKIs in a range of hematologic and solid malignancies, including lung cancer. The partnership and synergies between Xcovery and Meryx will accelerate and enhance both Xcovery’s and Meryx's missions to develop small molecule oncology drugs for patients all over the world. A new leadership and board of directors reflecting the new ownership will be established in the coming weeks.

"We are thrilled to partner on a global level with Meryx, a firm with whom we already have an out-licensing collaboration in China,” said Lieming Ding, M.D., Chairman of the Xcovery Board and Chairman of Betta Pharmaceuticals, a major Chinese pharma company. "Meryx has done a remarkable job of developing an innovative cutting-edge oncology pipeline. We are looking forward to building on this impressive track record and collaborating closely with its team to advance the clinical trials of these promising drug candidates.”

“Xcovery is at a very exciting juncture in its history,” stated Dr. Giovanni Selvaggi, Xcovery’s CEO and CMO. “We are well positioned to accelerate and further strengthen all Meryx’s ongoing R&D projects, both at clinical and pre-clinical level. Jointly with Meryx, and with the support of Betta, we are building a global company to benefit cancer patients worldwide through innovation and precision,” added Dr Selvaggi.

Dr. Stephen Frye, Meryx’s CEO also stated, “Through the new collaboration with Xcovery and with our longstanding collaboration with Betta, Meryx will have the opportunity to advance our exciting clinical-stage and preclinical pipeline at a faster pace to improve cancer patients' care.”

Details of the transaction have not been disclosed.

About Xcovery

Xcovery is a biopharmaceutical company working to improve the lives of patients with cancer by discovering and developing small molecules that precisely target cancer growth mechanisms. Xcovery is developing a pipeline of drugs targeting a wide range of advanced solid tumors with a focus on lung cancer. For more information, visit www.xcovery.com.

About Meryx

Meryx, Inc. is a clinical stage immuno-oncology company focused on advancing small molecule, orally bioavailable inhibitors of Mer Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (RTK) that inhibit growth and initiate anti-tumor immunity in a range of hematologic and solid malignancies. For more information about Meryx, visit www.meryxpharma.com.

Forward‐Looking Statements

This press release contains forward‐looking statements that are based on company management’s current beliefs and expectations and are subject to currently unknown information, risks and circumstances and actual results may vary from what is being currently projected.