Company Description
Portage Biotech Inc., which has been renamed AlphaTON Capital Corp, historically traded on Nasdaq under the ticker PRTG. According to its SEC filings, the company amended and restated its charter to change its name from Portage Biotech Inc. to AlphaTON Capital Corp and expects its Nasdaq trading symbol to change from PRTG to ATON. The company is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and has reported its status as a foreign private issuer on Form 20-F.
In its own disclosures, the company describes two primary lines of business. Since 2019, it has been engaged in researching and developing immune-oncology treatments. More recently, it has entered the digital asset industry with a focus on The Open Network (TON) token and a TON digital asset treasury strategy linked to the Telegram ecosystem. A press release and accompanying Form 6-K state that the company is launching a TON digital asset treasury strategy and has entered into financing and loan arrangements to acquire TON tokens and establish cryptocurrency treasury operations.
Digital asset treasury strategy
AlphaTON Capital Corp reports that its digital asset business is centered on building and managing a strategic reserve of TON tokens. Company disclosures explain that it intends to allocate a substantial portion of net cash proceeds from a private placement offering to the purchase of TON tokens, with a smaller portion reserved for its legacy immune-oncology business and operational needs. The company describes plans to acquire TON through exchanges, over-the-counter arrangements, and direct purchases from qualified sellers, and to design liquidity management strategies that may include staking protocols and yield-focused approaches for its TON holdings.
In a detailed business description filed on Form 6-K, the company states that it aims to provide shareholders with exposure to the potential appreciation of TON and to participate in the development of the TON ecosystem. It also notes that it may continue to raise funds through private investment in public equity transactions, at-the-market offerings, public offerings and other financings to grow its digital asset treasury.
Legacy immune-oncology business
Before its name change, Portage Biotech described itself in multiple press releases as a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company. The company reports that it has been advancing a pipeline of novel biologics designed to transform the immune system’s ability to fight cancer. Its stated drug development focus is on product candidates or technologies based on biology addressing known resistance pathways or mechanisms of current checkpoint inhibitors.
Company communications describe specific investigational assets, including PORT-6, characterized as a highly selective A2A adenosine receptor antagonist, and PORT-7 (also referred to as TT-4), characterized as a selective A2B adenosine receptor inhibitor. Press releases report preclinical data for PORT-7 in a murine mesothelioma model and describe plans to commence a first-in-human clinical trial. The company also reports resuming enrollment in the final dose-escalation cohort for PORT-6 in the ADPORT-601 Phase 1b clinical trial and indicates that it plans to evaluate co-administration of PORT-6 and PORT-7 in that trial to achieve more complete blockade of adenosine-induced immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment.
In addition, Portage Biotech has announced the re-launch of its wholly owned adenosine-focused subsidiary as an independently managed company to be named Cyncado Therapeutics Inc. Company statements describe Cyncado Therapeutics as focused on best-in-class small molecule adenosine receptor antagonists targeting A2A and A2B receptors for oncology indications, with an initial focus on dual administration of these antagonists.
Capital markets and financing activities
The company’s SEC filings and press releases describe several financing and capital markets activities. These include private placements of ordinary shares, at-the-market offering agreements, and a private placement offering involving both cash and cryptocurrency consideration. One Form 6-K describes a securities purchase agreement under which institutional and accredited investors agreed to purchase ordinary shares and pre-funded warrants, with net proceeds expected to be used primarily to acquire cryptocurrency for the company’s treasury strategy and to fund its legacy business operations.
The company has also disclosed an at-the-market offering agreement with Rodman & Renshaw LLC and, later, an at-the-market offering agreement with Chardan Capital Markets LLC, allowing it to offer and sell ordinary shares from time to time under an effective shelf registration statement on Form F-3. These agreements include customary commission arrangements and indemnification provisions, as described in the relevant Form 6-K filings.
Regulatory and listing status
Portage Biotech has reported interactions with The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC regarding continued listing requirements. In one press release and corresponding Form 6-K, the company states that it received an extension of time from Nasdaq to regain compliance with minimum shareholders’ equity or alternative standards. A subsequent press release and Form 6-K report that Nasdaq notified the company it had regained compliance with the applicable requirements for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market and that the previously announced listing matter had been closed.
Later filings indicate that, in connection with its transition to AlphaTON Capital Corp and its TON-focused strategy, the company expects its Nasdaq ticker to change from PRTG to ATON while maintaining the same CUSIP number for its ordinary shares. These disclosures frame the PRTG symbol as historically associated with Portage Biotech and its immuno-oncology activities, and ATON as the symbol for the renamed AlphaTON Capital Corp.
Corporate structure and jurisdiction
Throughout its SEC filings, the company identifies itself as formed under the laws of the British Virgin Islands and as a foreign private issuer reporting on Form 20-F. Its principal executive office is disclosed as being located in the British Virgin Islands, without changing jurisdiction in connection with the name change to AlphaTON Capital Corp.
Position within its sectors
Based on its own descriptions, the company spans two distinct areas: digital assets and immuno-oncology. In digital assets, it focuses on TON token and a treasury strategy aligned with the Telegram ecosystem. In biotechnology, it positions its legacy operations around clinical-stage development of biologics and small molecule antagonists that target adenosine-related pathways and checkpoint resistance mechanisms in cancer.
Investors researching the historical PRTG listing can use this context to understand that the symbol has been associated with Portage Biotech’s immuno-oncology business and, following the name change and strategic shift, with AlphaTON Capital Corp’s combined digital asset and legacy oncology activities. For current trading information, company filings indicate that ordinary shares are expected to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol ATON.