Biosight

Market position

Biosight was a small, private clinical-stage oncology developer whose lead asset targeted acute myeloid leukemia, particularly patients unfit for standard intensive chemotherapy; it ultimately became part of Ayala Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage oncology company focused on rare tumors and aggressive cancers.

Biosight's pro-drug chemistry was intended to release active chemotherapy selectively inside cancer cells, minimizing the toxicity of conventional chemotherapy, and its lead antimetabolite aspacytarabine was positioned as enabling high-dose treatment and as a potential superior backbone therapy for unfit AML patients in combination regimens.

Technology

Biosight's platform produced targeted chemotherapy pro-drugs that are taken up by cancer cells and release the active chemotherapeutic intracellularly, aiming to reduce conventional chemotherapy toxicity. Its lead compound, aspacytarabine (BST-236), is a proprietary novel anti-metabolite designed to permit high-dose chemotherapy and was in clinical development for AML.

Go-to-market

Patients with cancer and related life-threatening diseases, in particular adults with acute myeloid leukemia who are unfit for standard intensive chemotherapy.

Geography

Biosight was based in Israel; the acquiring company's merger announcement was issued from Rehovot, Israel and Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, and one directory profile lists Tel Aviv, Israel as the company's location.

History

The Trendlines Group lists BioSight as a portfolio company founded in 2000 and later exited, with Trendlines' shares acquired by Arkin Bio Ventures Ltd. in June 2017. In July 2021, Biosight signed a definitive agreement to combine with Advaxis, Inc. in a reverse merger that would have renamed the listed entity Biosight Therapeutics under the ticker BSTX, with former Biosight holders owning roughly 75% of the combined company and approximately $50 million of expected cash at closing; that deal was cancelled after Advaxis stockholders failed on December 16, 2021 to approve the reverse stock split needed to issue the merger consideration. On October 19, 2023, Ayala Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the closing of its merger with Biosight, Ltd., under which Ayala acquired Biosight and the combined company continued under the Ayala name and the OTCQX ticker ADXS.

Risks & controversies

The planned 2021 reverse merger with Advaxis, Inc. failed to complete after Advaxis stockholders declined to approve the reverse stock split and corporate name change proposals required to issue the merger consideration to Biosight shareholders. The merger agreement carried a $7.5 million termination fee payable by either party under certain circumstances and up to $2 million of expense reimbursement payable by Advaxis to Biosight in certain termination scenarios. Following the 2023 Ayala merger, disclosed risk factors included integration of Biosight's business, going-concern and capital-raising needs, clinical trial and regulatory uncertainty, and uncertainty over a Nasdaq listing.