Xenetic Biosciences (NASDAQ: XBIO) has entered into a definitive share exchange agreement to acquire closely held Santersus in an all-stock transaction, subject to stockholder approval. The combined company is expected to trade on the Nasdaq Capital Market as Santersus Bio, Inc. under new ticker symbol SNTS.
According to Xenetic, the transaction is expected to create a Nasdaq-listed, multi-indication clinical-stage company focused on targeting neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), a driver of disease across critical care, autoimmune disease, transplantation and oncology. The union of brings together Santersus’ NucleoCapture technology, designed to physically remove NETs from circulation, with Xenetic’s DNase technology, designed to enzymatically degrade NETs in tissue.
In a statement, James Parslow, interim CEO and CFO of Xenetic, commented, “As a result of our strategic review process, the combination with Santersus will advance Xenetic closer to the clinic while continuing to advance our core technologies and maximizing stockholder value. Xenetic’s DNase technology was built on the insight that NETs have been implicated in the context of cancer pathogenesis and resistance to cancer therapies and can form mechanical barriers that impede T-cell penetration and occlude T-cell contact with tumor cells that can contribute to resistance to CAR-T therapy. Santersus’ NucleoCapture technology targets the same underlying biology across critical care, autoimmune disease and transplantation. Combining these technologies creates the opportunity to target NET biology on two fronts and expands the potential reach of the platform well beyond either company’s current programs independently.”
