Macclesfield-based Redx Pharma has struck a $125m (about £88m) financing package alongside a transaction agreement with Skye Bioscience that will take the combined business onto Nasdaq as Fibrx Therapeutics, funding operations into 2029.
Redx is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing small-molecule medicines for fibrotic disease. Its lead asset, RXC008, is a potential first-in-class inhibitor for fibrostenotic Crohn's disease, an indication where surgery is currently the only option.
The financing comes in several layers, and the cap-table consequences are substantial.
First, a subscription agreement for a $36m Series A financing led by Abingworth, a new investor in Redx, with participation from the British Business Bank and Redmile Group, Redx's existing majority shareholder. Redmile following on protects its position ahead of the combination.
Skye Bioscience will then acquire the entire issued share capital of Redx, having entered a securities purchase agreement with a syndicate of Abingworth, the British Business Bank, Redmile, NEXTBio Capital and 5AM Ventures for a private placement of approximately $68m.
On top of that, Skye has agreed a committed equity line facility of up to $22m with a fund affiliated with Redmile, and will issue Redmile a warrant to purchase common stock valued at $5m. The equity line is drawable at Skye's discretion, so the eventual dilution from that tranche depends on how much of it the combined company chooses to use, and at what price.
The structure hands Redmile both further primary exposure and warrant coverage, while bringing two new US crossover names — NEXTBio and 5AM — onto the register ahead of a Nasdaq debut. The British Business Bank's presence keeps a UK state-backed investor in a business that is redomiciling its listing to the United States.
Both boards have unanimously approved the transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. Redx's current management team and board will lead the combined company.
The capital is intended to fund Fibrx into 2029 and through the topline data readout from the RXC008 Phase 2 study, expected in the second half of 2028.
Lisa Anson, chief executive of Redx Pharma, said the company was fully funded and heading for Nasdaq, calling fibrostenotic Crohn's disease one of the largest unmet needs in inflammatory bowel disease.
The deal is another data point in the drift of UK life-sciences companies towards US public markets, where deeper specialist biotech capital pools have drawn a steady stream of listings away from London.
Original source: BusinessCloud
