Salarius Pharmaceuticals ( SLRX ) shares are trading higher Monday after the company announced a merger agreement with Decoy Therapeutics, a privately held biopharmaceutical company.

What To Know: Under the agreement, Decoy Therapeutics will merge with a wholly owned subsidiary of Salarius Pharmaceuticals ( SLRX ) to form a new entity called Decoy Therapeutics. Following the merger and a shareholder vote to convert preferred shares into common stock, Decoy investors are expected to hold approximately 86% of the combined company, with Salarius shareholders retaining about 14%.

Decoy's platform centers on developing peptide conjugate therapeutics aimed at treating respiratory viruses and cancer. The combined company plans to fast-track clinical development by leveraging Decoy's innovative pipeline and approximately $7 million in non-dilutive funding from sources like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other partners.

Additionally, Salarius' cancer drug candidates, including SP-3164 and seclidemstat, will be integrated into the development plans, with ongoing support for a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for seclidemstat at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The merger is expected to enable progress in several areas over the next 12 months. Decoy plans to file an Investigational New Drug application with the FDA for its lead pan-coronavirus antiviral and advance programs targeting flu, COVID-19 and gastrointestinal cancers. Salarius also expects updates from its MD Anderson clinical trial involving patients with myelodysplastic syndrome and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.

SLRX Price Action: Salarius shares were up 155.3% at $4.02 at the time of writing, according to Benzinga Pro.

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