Debra BorchardtDecember 11, 2023
Exopharm Limited is buying Tryp Therapeutics Inc. (CSE: TRYP) in an all-stock deal valued at C$12.8 million dated December 8, 2023. According to the company statement, the purchase price of C$0.08 represents a 78% premium to the closing price of $0.045 and a 112% premium to the 20-day volume-weighted price of $0.0378 per Tryp share on December 8, 2023.
Tryp CEO Jason Carroll said, “Joining forces with Exopharm heralds a new era for Tryp, where we expect our combined strength and shared vision to elevate us to the prominent platform of the ASX. With enhanced access to capital and the evolving landscape of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) regulations in Australia for select psychedelics, we see even more paths forward to innovate and grow. I am thrilled to emphasize that our ongoing clinical commitments and our TRP-8803 R&D program remain unchanged and will be pursued with the same vigor and dedication. It is not expected that Exopharm’s current R&D program will be pursued following completion of the transaction. With this merger, we’re even better positioned to serve our stakeholders.”
Deal Details
Tryp said that its shareholders are expected to receive 4.52 Exopharm Shares for each Tryp share held. The majority of the directors of the combined entity are to be appointed by Tryp. The combined entity is expected to relist on the Australian Securities Exchange in the first quarter 2024. However, the company did note that the listing will require the company to raise AUD $6 million under a public offering.
Tryp’s Situation
Carroll is a relatively new CEO having just been named to the post in August 2023. The company hasn’t posted financial earnings since July when the company delivered results for the quarter ending in May 2023. At that time, Tryp reported that it had no operating revenues during the quarter and relied on external financing to generate capital for its continued operations. As a result of its activities, the company continues to incur losses. For the nine months ended May 31, 2023, the company reported a net loss and comprehensive loss of
$3,496,657 (May 31, 2022 – $5,325,216) and a basic and diluted loss per share of $0.04 (May 31, 2022 – 0.07).
Tryp announced in November that it had closed a private placement of unsecured convertible notes for aggregate gross proceeds of AUD$3,215,000.
Exopharm (EX1) is described as a leader in advancing and manufacturing technologies for exosome-based medicines using exosomes or extracellular vesicles (EVs) as a chassis for improved and non-viral drug delivery. Currently, Exopharm is executing a strategy to maximize the significant value of the company’s IP position in the exosome field.
Tryp’s lead program is TRP-8803, which is a proprietary formulation of IV-infused psilocin that alleviates numerous shortcomings of oral psilocybin including significantly reducing the time to onset of the psychedelic state, controlling the depth and duration of the psychedelic experience, and reducing the overall duration of the intervention to a commercially feasible timeframe. The company reported that it has completed a Phase 2a clinical trial for the treatment of Binge Eating Disorder at the University of Florida, which demonstrated an average reduction in binge eating episodes of greater than 80%.
John Schroyer
Adam Jackson
