TransCode Therapeutics, Inc. announced on October 8 that it entered into an agreement to acquire Polynoma LLC.
Polynoma is a privately held biotechnology immuno-oncology company. Polynoma is developing a late-stage candidate, seviprotimut-L, a novel polyvalent shed antigen vaccine for the adjuvant treatment of stage IIB and IIC melanoma.
TransCode is a clinical-stage oncology company focused on treating metastatic disease. The company is committed to defeating cancer through the intelligent design and effective delivery of RNA therapeutics based on its proprietary TTX nanoparticle platform. Its therapeutic candidate, TTX-MC138, is focused on treating metastatic tumors which overexpress microRNA-10b, a unique, well-documented biomarker of metastasis. In addition, TransCode has a portfolio of other first-in-class RNA therapeutic candidates designed to overcome the challenges of RNA delivery.
Pursuant to the definitive agreement, the sole stockholder of Polynoma will receive an aggregate of 83,285 shares of common stock and 1,152.9568 shares of non-voting Series A convertible preferred stock.
Concurrent with the Polynoma acquisition, TransCode announced a $25 million investment from CK Life Sciences Int’l., Inc. to be used primarily to advance clinical development of TTX-MC138 into a Phase 2 clinical trial. The investment consists of $20 million in cash and a promissory note with an aggregate principal amount of $5 million.
Tungsten Advisors served as the exclusive financial advisor and sole placement agent to TransCode. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP is serving as legal counsel to TransCode. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer served as legal counsel to CK Life Sciences and its subsidiaries.
According to data captured in the LevinPro HC database, this transaction represents the 105th Biotechnology transaction of 2025. There were 135 Biotechnology transactions announced in 2024, and 160 announced in 2023.
