Vallon Pharmaceuticals completes merger with GRI Bio

GRI Bio, Inc. announced the completion of the previously announced merger between Vallon Pharmaceuticals and GRI Bio, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company. The combined company will operate under the name "GRI Bio, Inc." and will focus on advancing GRI Bio’s pipeline of NKT cell modulators for the treatment of inflammatory, fibrotic and autoimmune diseases. Under the terms of the merger agreement, the company acquired 100% of the outstanding equity interests of Private GRI, by means of reverse triangular merger of a wholly owned subsidiary of the company with and into Private GRI, with Private GRI surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of the company. In connection with the closing of the merger, the company changed its name to "GRI Bio, Inc." As of the closing of the merger, the equity holders of Private GRI immediately before the merger own approximately 85% of the outstanding equity of the company, and the equity holders of the company immediately before the merger own approximately 15% of the outstanding equity of the combined company. The shares of the company’s common stock, previously trading on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol "VLON," will commence trading on The Nasdaq Capital Market, on a post-reverse split adjusted basis, under the ticker symbol "GRI", effective April 24. As previously announced, in connection with the execution of the merger agreement, Altium Capital agreed to invest approximately $15M, of which $2.5M was previously invested and an additional $12.25M was invested immediately prior to the closing of the merger. The combined company is expected to use the proceeds from the financings to fund the advancement of GRI Bio’s NKT development pipeline targeting multiple inflammatory, fibrotic and autoimmune indications into mid-2024 with an initial focus on IPF. "This marks a transformational moment for the company and an important step into what we believe is a bright future for the company. With the completion of the merger and concurrent investment, we are well positioned to realize multiple upcoming catalytic clinical and regulatory milestones that we believe will drive value in the near and long term," said Marc Hertz, PhD, the new CEO of the company.