Metabolic medicines developer Corxel Pharmaceuticals is joining the public markets in a merger deal set to infuse the biotech company with $377 million as it prepares for Phase 3 tests of its lead asset, an oral GLP-1 drug for obesity.
Corxel is combining with specialty purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Amanat Acquisition Corp., the companies announced Monday. Amanat currently trades on the Nasdaq under the stock symbol “AMAN.” The combined company will operate under a new name and trade under a new stock symbol. Both will be announced before the close of the transaction, which is expected in the first half of 2027.
Corxel’s lead drug candidate is CX11, a small molecule agonist of the GLP-1 receptor. The Corxel drug, formulated as a once-daily pill, has already completed Phase 3 testing in Asia. In preliminary results from a Phase 2 test in obesity, Corxel said the study drug led to up to 11.5% weight loss measured at 36 weeks. Acknowledging all of the caveats that come with cross-trial comparisons, that measure is competitive with Phase 2 results posted by the now approved GLP-1 pills, the Novo oral peptide version of Wegovy, and Eli Lilly’s oral small molecule, Foundayo.
In an investor presentation, Corxel acknowledges the strong uptake of the Novo and Lilly obesity pills, but said the market remains wide open for medicines offering a combination of efficacy, tolerability, and scalability. The Phase 2 results for Corxel’s drug showed favorable tolerability, with the vomiting rate between 12% and 16%. That’s “markedly lower” than the vomiting rates reported for the mid-stage tests of the Novo and Lilly pills, the company said in the presentation.
Side effects occurred mainly during the dose-escalation period of its drug and subsided in the maintenance period. The discontinuation rate was 5%. No liver safety signals were reported. Better tolerability could be a key differentiator for CX11. Side effects are a common reason that patients discontinue treatment with currently available GLP-1 drugs.
“Chronic obesity therapy success depends not only on efficacy, but on tolerability leading to treatment persistency,” Corxel said in the presentation. “A favorable [gastrointestinal adverse effect] profile is a meaningful driver of real-world adherence.”
Corxel has an agreement with the FDA on the regulatory path and design of the Phase 3 test of CX11, which is expected to begin in the first half of 2027. Separately, a mid-stage study is currently evaluating this drug in type 2 diabetes mellitus; preliminary data are expected in the first half of next year. Lilly and Novo are not Corxel’s only potential competitors. Oral GLP-1 drug candidates are in various stages of clinical development in the hands of AstraZeneca, Roche, Structure Therapeutics, and Viking Therapeutics.
Berkeley Heights, New Jersey-based Corxel Pharmaceuticals is the U.S. division of Corxel Group, a Shanghai-based company that’s known as JiXing in China. Investment firm RTW Investments formed Corxel Group in 2019 to develop cardiometabolic medicines. The molecule that became CX11 was acquired from Vincentage Pharma in 2024. The U.S. unit’s pipeline also includes preclinical CX12, an internally developed oral small molecule designed to activate the amylin receptor. Corxel expects to file an FDA investigational new drug application for this molecule in the first half of 2027.
The planned SPAC merger only covers the U.S. part of Corxel Group. That newly combined company will gain access to the approximately $75 million in Amanat’s trust account. Concurrent with the merger, the combined company will raise about $300 million in a private placement. Investors that have committed to this private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing, include RTW, New Enterprise Associates, SR One, Mirae Asset Capital Life Science, HBM Healthcare Investments (Cayman) Ltd., Nantahala Capital, Coastlands Capital, LifeSci Venture Partners, Invus, TCGX, RA Capital Management, Propel Bio, SilverArc Capital and a large healthcare mutual fund that was not named.
When the deal closes, the PIPE investors will be the largest shareholders owning about 50.1% of the combined company, according to the presentation. The SPAC shareholders will own a 12.8% stake, assuming they do not redeem their shares. Corxel Group will own about 33.4% of the combined company.
The current management of Corxel in the U.S. is expected to continue leading the new company while a search for a U.S.-based CEO continues. Corxel and Amanat expect to complete the transaction in the first half of next year. The combined company’s capital, including the private placement, is expected to last into 2029.
Photo: Stuart Ritchie, Getty Images
