Salarius Pharmaceuticals and Decoy Therapeutics Complete Strategic Merger to Advance AI-Driven Peptide Conjugate Platform
Key Insights
Salarius Pharmaceuticals (search) and Decoy Therapeutics (search) have completed their strategic merger, creating a combined company focused on advancing peptide conjugate therapeutics through Decoy's proprietary IMP3ACT platform.
The merged entity combines artificial intelligence, machine learning, and high-speed synthesis techniques to rapidly design and manufacture drug candidates targeting respiratory infectious diseases (search) and gastrointestinal oncology.
Decoy plans to file an Investigational New Drug application for its lead pan-coronavirus antiviral (search) within 12 months and advance additional programs including broad-acting antivirals for flu, COVID-19 (search), and RSV.
Salarius Pharmaceuticals (search) (Nasdaq: SLRX) and Decoy Therapeutics (search) announced the completion of their strategic merger on November 13, 2025, creating a combined entity focused on advancing next-generation peptide conjugate therapeutics through Decoy's proprietary IMP3ACT platform. The merger positions the new company to accelerate drug development from laboratory to commercialization with unprecedented speed.
AI-Powered Drug Development Platform
The combined company leverages Decoy's IMP3ACT platform, which integrates artificial intelligence, machine learning, and high-speed synthesis techniques to rapidly design, engineer, and manufacture peptide conjugate drug candidates. According to Frederick "Rick" Pierce, Chief Executive Officer of Salarius and former CEO of Decoy, the technology reduces the complexity of drug development and manufacturing while targeting serious unmet medical needs.
"By combining artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and high-speed synthesis techniques, we rapidly design, engineer and manufacture peptide conjugate drug candidates that target serious unmet medical needs," Pierce stated. "Our technology and innovations in manufacturing allow for advancing new therapies from lab to clinic to commercialization with unprecedented speed."
Pipeline Development and Clinical Milestones
The merged company anticipates multiple value-creating inflection points over the next 12 months, initially targeting respiratory infectious diseases (search) and gastroenterology oncology indications. Decoy expects to advance its lead asset, a pan-coronavirus antiviral (search), to the filing of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration within the next year.
Additional programs in development include a novel broad-acting antiviral (search) designed to treat influenza (search), COVID-19 (search), and respiratory syncytial virus (search) (RSV), as well as a peptide drug conjugate (search) targeting gastrointestinal cancers (search).
Financial Structure and Funding History
The combined company has pro forma cash of $14 million following the merger completion and closing of a recent public offering. Prior to the merger, Decoy attracted significant funding from institutional investors and non-dilutive capital sources, including the Massachusetts Life Sciences Seed Fund, Google AI startup program, and NVIDIA Inception program.
Decoy also received QuickFire Challenge award funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA (search)) through BLUE KNIGHT, a collaboration between Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS and BARDA within the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.
Leadership and Corporate Structure
The new company will be renamed Decoy Therapeutics (search) and will be led by Decoy's co-founder Pierce as Chief Executive Officer. The leadership team includes Decoy's co-founder Barbara Hibner as Chief Scientific Officer, Peter Marschel as Chief Business Officer, Mike Lipp as Chief Technology Officer, and Shahin Gharakhanian, M.D., as acting Chief Medical Officer and Scientific Advisory Board Chair. Mark Rosenblum, Salarius' current Chief Financial Officer, will continue in that role for the combined company.
Merger Transaction Details
The merger was completed on November 12, 2025, following an Agreement and Plan of Merger originally dated January 10, 2025, with five subsequent amendments. In connection with the merger, Salarius issued 877,709 shares of Series A Preferred Stock and 796,306 shares of Series B Preferred Stock to former Decoy stockholders and debtholders, with an additional 45,098 shares of Series A Preferred Stock reserved for assumed options and warrants.
The number of common shares underlying the issued and reserved preferred stock totals 4,814,106. The preferred shares are not convertible into common stock until Salarius stockholders approve the conversion in accordance with Nasdaq Rule 5635 and the company's initial listing application with Nasdaq is approved. Salarius plans to call a special stockholder meeting to approve the conversion of the preferred stock into common shares.