CombinatoRx, Neuromed agree to merge

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

CombinatoRx Inc., a Cambridge biotechnology company that last year cut two-thirds of its work force, and Neuromed Pharmaceuticals Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, today announced they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which CombinatoRx and Neuromed will merge in an all-stock transaction.

Neuromed is a privately held biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Vancouver.

"Under the terms of the merger agreement, CombinatoRx is expected to issue approximately 36 million new shares of its common stock to Neuromed stockholders with each party owning approximately 50 percent of the voting power of the merged organization upon closing," the companies said in a press release.

CombinatoRx shares closed yesterday at 80 cents, up a penny for the day.

"Upon closing of the merger, the combined company will have the CombinatoRx name and is expected to trade under the stock symbol (CRXX) on the NASDAQ Global Market," the press release also said.

A Globe story from last December noted that CombinatoRx was planning to cut 80 jobs, or two-thirds of its workforce, as a way to enable the company to operate for at least four more years without raising additional cash.

Last fall, the firm reported that a midstage clinical trial found its Synavive drug was not much more effective than a placebo or steroid in reducing knee pain caused by osteoarthritis, a Globe brief noted.

A recent bright spot: Just over a month agoy, CombinatoRx reported positive results for its Phase 2 clinical study of CRx-401 as an add-on to metformin therapy in Type 2 diabetes.