EOM Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held, clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, and ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. announced that the companies have entered into and closed on a merger agreement pursuant to which the shareholders of EOM are now the majority shareholders of the combined company. The merger will create a public company that will continue EOM's focus on advancing novel immunomodulatory and retinal disease drug agents to address a range of inflammatory, viral, retinal, and other diseases. ImmunoCellular will be renamed EOM Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc. Pending the assignment of a new ticker symbol, EOM Pharmaceuticals' Common Stock will continue to be quoted on the OTC Markets under the ticker symbol "IMUC." EOM may consider in the future changing the principal listing of the Company Common Stock to a national exchange, assuming it will then meet the relevant listing requirements.
The combined company's two pipeline assets are EOM613 and EOM147.
EOM613 is an investigational peptide-nucleic acid solution believed to have both anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory broad-spectrum cytokine effects. Patients are currently enrolled in R1: RESCUE, a Phase 1/2a open-label clinical study in Brazil evaluating EOM613 treatment in severe hospitalized COVID-19 patients with "cytokine storm" immune responses. EOM expects to announce data from this trial in first quarter 2022. Further clinical development of EOM613 includes planning a Phase 2a multi-center trial for cancer cachexia in the U.S. and initiating exploratory trials for rheumatoid arthritis.
EOM147 is an investigational, reformulated broad-spectrum aminosterol with a unique intracellular mechanism for the treatment of retinal diseases. EOM147 affects multiple angiogenic growth factors such as VEGF, PdGF, and bFGF. This mechanism of action is uniquely differentiated from other retinal therapies that are only anti-VEGF and administered as an intraocular injection. The novel formulation, administered as an eye drop, represents a potential breakthrough that does not require intraocular injection. Planning is underway for Phase 2 ophthalmic trials for macular edema in patients with diabetic retinopathy and wet age-related macular degeneration (wet-AMD).
EOM Founder, Board Chairman, and Chief Operating Officer Eli Goldberger said, "EOM's merger with ImmunoCellular provides the resources necessary to advance our lead program, EOM613, as a potential treatment for COVID-19, as well as support the development of both EOM613 and EOM147. We look forward to advancing our pipeline assets and delivering value to all our stakeholders, including patients, the scientific and medical community, and our stockholders."
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