Evolva takes over struggling Swiss bitoech Arpida

Privately-held Swiss biotechnology firm Evolva has entered into an agreement with fellow Switzerland-based Arpida to merge, thus rescuing the latter, whose shares have lost nearly all their value after its failure to gain regulatory approval for the company's lead drug candidate, the intravenous antibiotic iclaprim.

The intended merger is not expected to affect Arpida and Evolva employees. Rather it would create a company with promising growth prospects, they firms claim. The lead clinical candidates are EV-077 for renal disease and arterial thrombosis which is currently in Phase I while EV-086 for systemic and other fungal infections is scheduled to enter Phase I early 2010. Furthermore, EV-075, a program for influenza and Ebola, is in late-stage preclinical testing and expected to enter Phase I in 2010. In parallel to its clinical activities, the company has several major discovery partnerships. The company expects to establish more such revenue generating partnerships in the future.
Transaction summary

Prior to the intended merger, Evolva will conduct an equity financing with the aim to raise sufficient funds to allow the combined company to progress its clinical compounds through phase II proof of concept clinical trials over the next two to three years. Evolva says it has received positive feedbacks from existing and new investors who so far signaled funding interest in excess of 25 million Swiss francs ($24 million).