Skye and Redx form new entity with $125M to advance fibrosis assets

Now accepting nominations for the Fierce Innovation Awards - Submit your application today Biotech Skye and Redx form new entity with $125M to advance fibrosis assets By Will Maddox Aug 14, 2026 2:05pm Redx Pharma Skye Bioscience fibrosis M&A After its last attempt at a merger failed in 2023, Redx Pharma seems to have found a willing partner in Skye Biosciences, which experienced a couple trial failures in recent years. The public biotech has entered into an agreement to combine with privately held fibrotic disease company Redx in a deal that will net $125 million in financing for a new public company called Fibrx Therapeutics. The deal mirrors the structure of a reverse merger.

The combined firm will be led by Redx’s current leadership and focus on advancing Redx’s fibrosis assets, according to a Friday release. Fibrx, which is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq following the completion of the transaction, will now have runway into 2029 and funds to support its lead asset, RXC008. The drug is a GI-restricted pan-ROCK inhibitor for the treatment of fibrostenotic Crohn’s disease that is set to begin a phase 2 study.

With the added funding, topline data for that study are expected in the second half of 2028. With no approved therapeutic options to address the underlying fibrotic aspects of Crohn’s, patients sometimes must undergo bowel resection surgery or a strictureplasty, in which a section of the bowel is widened to improve digestion. According to a release, preclinical studies have demonstrated RXC008’s potential to reverse fibrosis in the GI tract, and phase 1 studies showed a favorable tolerability and safety profile.

The candidate received Fast Track designation from the FDA in January. “We believe this is an exciting opportunity to be a leader in developing a therapeutic option for patients suffering with fibrostenotic Crohn’s disease, considered by many to be one of the largest unmet medical needs in IBD,” said Lisa Anson, Redx’s CEO who will be the CEO of Fibrx. This isn't Redx's first crack at a merger.

In 2023, it was set for a reverse merger with Jounce Therapeutics after Jounce conceded its cancer meds were unlikely to advance. But just a few weeks after announcing a planned combination, Concentra Biosciences entered the picture and eventually acquired Jounce. The new deal will give the company a path to public markets and additional financing.

Fibrx’s $125 million comes from a variety of new deals, including an agreement Skye signed with new and existing investors that include Abingworth, British Business Bank, NEXTBio Capital and 5AM Ventures, as well as Redx’s existing major shareholder, Redmile, that will total $68 million in private financing. Redx also entered into a subscription agreement for a $36 million Series A financing led by Abingworth that included British Business Bank and Redmile. Additionally, Redmile and Skye agreed to a $22 million equity line that will result in Skye issuing a warrant to Redmile to purchase $5 million worth of stock.

San Diego-based Skye has had a few setbacks in recent years. In 2024, it ended its eye disease R&D efforts after its glaucoma drug failed in a phase 2 trial. Last October, phase 2 data showed that its CB1 blocker nimacimab failed to reduce weight much more than the placebo in combination with Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 drug semaglutide at week 26, sending its stock down 60%.

In February, Skye published 52-week data for the extended trial showing patients on the combination lost 22.3% of their weight compared to 19.7% in the semaglutide-only group. According to a release, Skye discontinued that trial, paused nimacimab development activities and sought out strategic alternatives in the second quarter of this year after reviewing the evolving landscape of anti-obesity medicines and potential commercial opportunities for the drug. “We believe this transaction provides our shareholders a compelling opportunity to realize both short- and long-term value creation through Redx’s novel anti-fibrotic therapies, led by their first-in-class pan-ROCK inhibitor, RXC008,” Skye President and CEO Punit Dhillon said in a release.

Skye shareholders will also receive 90% of net cash proceeds realized from future monetization of nimacimab and its associated intellectual property, Dhillon added. Beyond its lead asset, Fibrx's pipeline includes a preclinical discoidin domain receptor (DDR) inhibitor program. DDRs are tyrosine kinase collagen receptors that have increased expression in kidney, lung and liver fibrosis.

An IND submission for the DDR inhibitor is expected in 2027. Additionally, RXC007 is a selective ROCK2 inhibitor, with potential for use in interstitial lung diseases and other indications such as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and cancer-associated fibrosis. The asset, also called zelasudil, has completed a successful signal-searching phase 2 study in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients and is a candidate for partnering.

Fibrx will be headquartered in Alderley Park, U.K., the current headquarters of Redx, and a majority of the new board will be made up of Redx’s current board. Pre-transaction Skye equity holders are expected to own 5.38% of the combined company, while pre-transaction Redx investors will own 46.17% of the combined company. Investors who participated in the latest round of financing will own the remaining 48.45% of Fibrx.

Redx Pharma Skye Bioscience fibrosis M&A Deals Biotech