GAITHERSBURG, Md., May 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Altimmune, Inc. (Nasdaq:ALT) announced today the completion of its merger with PharmAthene, Inc., effective May 4, 2017. Upon the completion of the merger, the combined company was renamed Altimmune, Inc., and will commence trading on The NASDAQ Capital Market under the ticker symbol “ALT” on May 5, 2017. The combined company is a fully integrated and diversified immunotherapeutics company with one preclinical-stage and four clinical-stage drug-development programs.

Bill Enright, President and Chief Executive Officer of Altimmune, and Elizabeth Czerepak, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Corporate Development of Altimmune, will serve in their respective positions in the combined company. The new board of directors will be initially comprised of three PharmAthene directors and four Altimmune directors. The combined company’s headquarters is located in Gaithersburg, MD.

Additionally, the company announced that immediately prior to the merger, it effectuated a 1-for-10 reverse stock split of outstanding shares of its common stock. As a result of the reverse stock split, each 10 shares of common stock outstanding immediately prior to the merger were converted into one share of common stock.

Mr. Enright stated: “We congratulate and thank the employees and shareholders of both companies for their approval of this merger, which will bring together complementary vaccine development programs and allow us to leverage our substantial financial and human resources effectively in support of these programs.”

Altimmune will focus its drug-development activities on the following proprietary vaccine candidates:

• NasoVAX: an intranasal, single dose, state-of-the-art recombinant influenza vaccine that in preclinical studies demonstrated early and universal activity. Phase 2 is expected to commence during 3Q2017 with initial data expected in 1Q18.
• HepTcell: a first-in-class immunotherapeutic for chronic hepatitis B with the potential to offer a functional cure. Phase 1 is ongoing with initial data expected 4Q17.
• SparVax-L: a next generation lyophilized anthrax vaccine (NIAID funded) that may be stored at room temperature and provides extended shelf life. A non-human primate bridging study is anticipated to begin during the second half of 2017 with data anticipated during the first half of 2018.
• NasoShield: an intranasal, single-dose, first-in-class anthrax vaccine (BARDA funded) that based on preclinical studies may offer protection within a few weeks of administration. A Phase 1 trial is expected to begin during 1Q18 with data anticipated 2Q18.
• In addition to the clinical-stage product candidates, Altimmune has one preclinical program, Oncosyn, driven by its proprietary Densigen synthetic peptide technology that is being evaluated in immuno-oncology indications.

About Altimmune, Inc.

Altimmune is a clinical-stage immunotherapeutics company focused on the development of products to stimulate robust and durable immune responses for the prevention and treatment of disease and on the development of two next-generation anthrax vaccines that are intended to improve protection and safety while having favorable dosage and storage requirements compared to other anthrax vaccines. The company has two proprietary platform technologies, RespirVec and Densigen, each of which has been shown to activate the immune system in distinctly different ways than traditional vaccines.