Salarius Pharmaceuticals and Decoy Therapeutics Complete Merger

Rhea-AI Summary

Salarius Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: SLRX) and Decoy Therapeutics completed a strategic merger on November 13, 2025, creating a combined company to be renamed Decoy Therapeutics.

The combined business will advance Decoy’s IMP3ACT™ platform that uses AI/ML and high-speed synthesis to design and manufacture peptide conjugate therapeutics. The merger yields pro forma cash of $14 million following the closing and a recent public offering. Management will be led by Decoy founders including CEO Frederick Pierce and CSO Barbara Hibner, with Mark Rosenblum remaining CFO.

The company expects to advance its lead pan-coronavirus antiviral to an IND filing within 12 months and progress programs for broad-acting respiratory antivirals and a peptide drug conjugate for GI cancers.

Positive

• Pro forma cash of $14 million after merger and offering
• IND filing target for lead pan-coronavirus antiviral within 12 months
• Platform integration of AI/ML and high-speed synthesis (IMP3ACT)
• Experienced leadership from Decoy founders retained in key roles
• Prior non-dilutive funding from BARDA, Google AI program, NVIDIA Inception

Negative

• None.

Insights

Strategic transactions analyst

Merger consolidates Salarius and Decoy to focus on Decoy’s IMP3ACT platform with limited pro forma liquidity.

The combined company centralizes peptide conjugate design, AI/ML-driven discovery and high-speed synthesis under the IMP3ACT platform and will operate under the Decoy Therapeutics name following the close on Nov. 13, 2025. Management largely comes from Decoy, creating continuity for the technology and commercial roadmap while preserving Salarius’ public listing.

Execution depends on replacing or extending the reported pro forma cash of $14 million and on delivering an IND filing within next 12 months for the lead pan-coronavirus antiviral. The funding level is modest relative to clinical development needs; runway and near-term financing plans will materially influence program timelines and dilution risk.

Watch for concrete milestones: the actual IND filing interaction with the FDA, any announced non-dilutive or equity financings, and early-stage regulatory or CMC (chemistry, manufacturing and controls) updates within the next 12 months.

Clinical development and platform commercialization expert

Platform-led merger prioritizes rapid peptide-conjugate programs, with an IND goal in the coming year but constrained near-term cash.

The company highlights rapid computational design plus high-speed synthesis to move candidates quickly from lab to clinic; leadership continuity should help translate platform outputs into IND‑enabling activities. The stated programs include a pan-coronavirus antiviral, a broad-acting respiratory antiviral, and a peptide drug conjugate for GI oncology.

Key dependencies include successful IND-enabling studies, regulatory interactions, and scalable manufacturing to support clinical supply. The press release gives no clinical data or CMC milestones, so technical and regulatory risk remain unquantified. The modest $14 million pro forma cash suggests near-term financing or partnerships will be required to complete IND-enabling work.

Concrete items to monitor over a 12‑month horizon: formal IND submission details and timelines, any non-dilutive awards or partner-funded studies, and CMC scale-up evidence tied to first-in-human dosing.

Strategic transaction supports the advancement of Decoy’s rapid computational design and manufacturing of innovative peptide conjugate therapeutics through its IMP³ACT™ platform

Combined company has pro forma cash of $14 million following merger and closing of recent public offering

HOUSTON and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Salarius Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: SLRX) (“Salarius” or the “Company”) and Decoy Therapeutics (“Decoy”) announce the completion of their strategic merger with the combined company now focused on advancing Decoy’s pipeline of peptide conjugate therapeutics engineered through its IMP³ACT platform that reduces the complexity of drug development and manufacturing.

“I’d like to thank both the Salarius and Decoy teams for their hard work and dedication in completing this transaction, which supports the advancement of next-generation therapeutics through our proprietary IMP³ACT Platform,” said Frederick “Rick” Pierce, Chief Executive Officer of Salarius and former Chief Executive Officer of Decoy. “By combining artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and high-speed synthesis techniques, we rapidly design, engineer and manufacture peptide conjugate drug candidates that target serious unmet medical needs. Our technology and innovations in manufacturing allow for advancing new therapies from lab to clinic to commercialization with unprecedented speed. We anticipate multiple value-creating inflection points in the coming year, initially targeting unmet needs in respiratory infectious diseases and gastroenterology (GI) oncology indications.”

Prior to this merger, Decoy attracted financing from institutional investors as well as significant non-dilutive capital from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Seed Fund, the Google AI startup program and the NVIDIA Inception program, among other sources. Decoy also received QuickFire Challenge award funding provided by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) through BLUE KNIGHT™, a legacy collaboration between Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS and BARDA within the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.

During the next 12 months, Decoy expects to advance its lead asset, a pan-coronavirus antiviral, to the filing of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and to make progress on other programs including a novel broad-acting antiviral to treat flu, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and a peptide drug conjugate targeting GI cancers.

Then new company will be renamed Decoy Therapeutics. In addition to Decoy’s Co-founder Mr. Pierce serving as Chief Executive Officer, the new company is led by Decoy’s Co-founder Chief Scientific Officer Barbara Hibner, by Decoy’s Chief Business Officer Peter Marschel, by Decoy’s Chief Technology Officer Mike Lipp and by Decoy’s acting Chief Medical Officer and Scientific Advisory Board Chair Shahin Gharakhanian, M.D. Salarius’ current Chief Financial Officer and former acting Chief Executive Officer Mark Rosenblum will continue to serve as Chief Financial Officer of the combined company.

About the Merger Agreement

As previously disclosed, the Company entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated January 10, 2025, as previously amended by the First Amendment on March 28, 2025, the Second Amendment on June 10, 2025, by the Third Amendment on July 18, 2025 by the Fourth Amendment on July 29, 2025, and by the Fifth Amendment dated September 17, 2025 (as amended, collectively, the “Merger Agreement”) with Decoy Therapeutics MergerSub I, Inc. (“MergerSub I”), Decoy Therapeutics MergerSub II, LLC (“MergerSub II”), and Decoy. On November 12, 2025, pursuant to the Merger Agreement, MergerSub I merged with and into Decoy, and immediately thereafter Decoy merged with and into Merger Sub I (the “Merger”), resulting in the Decoy business becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company.

In connection with the Merger, the Company issued 877.709 shares of Series A Preferred Stock and 796.306 shares of Series B Preferred Stock to former Decoy stockholders and debtholders and reserved 45.098 shares of Series A Preferred Stock for assumed in-the-money Decoy options and warrants. In connection with the adjustment to the conversion ratio in the certificate of designations for the Series A and Series B Preferred Stock triggered by the recent financing, the number of Company common shares underlying the issued and reserved shares of Series A and Series B Preferred Stock is 4,814,106. The shares of Series A Preferred Stock and Series B Preferred Stock are not convertible into common stock until such time as the Company’s stockholders approve such conversion in accordance with Nasdaq Rule 5635 and the approval of the Company’s initial listing application with Nasdaq. Salarius will call a special stockholder meeting to approve, among other things, the conversion of the Preferred Stock issued at merger closing into shares of Salarius common stock.

Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. acted as exclusive financial advisor to Decoy in connection with the merger and sole bookrunning manager in connection with Salarius’ recent public offering, and Nason Yeager Gerson Harris & Fumero, P.A. served as legal counsel to Decoy. Honigman LLP served as legal counsel to Salarius in connection with the merger and Hogan Lovells US LLP served as counsel to Salarius in connection with the concurrent financing.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding the combined company, including without limitation, statements relating to plans and expectations relating to the business, scientific advisory board, products, including expected achievement of milestones for its lead asset and future prospects of the combined company. These statements may discuss goals, intentions and expectations as to future plans, trends, events, results of operations or financial condition, or otherwise, based on current beliefs of the management of the combined company, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. Forward-looking statements generally include statements that are predictive in nature and depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “likely,” “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” and other similar expressions. Statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results could differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement as a result of various factors, including, without limitation: risks related to the combined company’s ability to satisfy the initial listing standards in the required timeframe; risks that the combined company will not achieve the synergies expected from the proposed merger; risks that the combined company will not obtain sufficient financing to execute on their business plans; risks that Salarius will be unable to obtain stockholder approval for the conversion of the preferred stock; and risks related to the combined company’s products and development plans, including unanticipated issues with any IND application process and the potential of the IMP³ACT™ platform. Readers are urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures made by Salarius in its reports filed with the SEC, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, as revised or supplemented by its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents filed with the SEC. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, Salarius’ actual results may vary materially from those expected or projected.

CONTACT:

Alliance Advisors IR
Jody Cain
jcain@allianceadvisors.com
310-691-7100

FAQ

What did SLRX announce on November 13, 2025 regarding a merger?

Salarius (SLRX) completed a merger with Decoy Therapeutics and the combined company will be renamed Decoy Therapeutics.

How much cash does the combined SLRX/Decoy company have after the merger?

The combined company has pro forma cash of $14 million following the merger and recent public offering.

What is the timeline for SLRX/Decoy's lead antiviral IND filing?

The company expects to advance its lead pan-coronavirus antiviral to an IND filing within 12 months.

What technology does Decoy’s IMP3ACT platform use in the SLRX merger?

The IMP3ACT platform combines AI, machine learning, and high-speed synthesis to design and manufacture peptide conjugate therapeutics.

Who will lead the combined company after the SLRX and Decoy merger?

Frederick Pierce will serve as CEO, Barbara Hibner as CSO, Peter Marschel as CBO, Mike Lipp as CTO, and Mark Rosenblum will continue as CFO.

What therapeutic areas will the merged SLRX/Decoy focus on?

The company will initially target respiratory infectious diseases and GI oncology indications, including flu, COVID-19, RSV, and GI cancers.