BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Sept. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Caladrius Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLBS), announced today that, based upon the final vote count certified by the independent inspector of elections for the annual meeting of stockholders held September 13, 2022, its stockholders approved all of the merger-related proposals, including: (i) the Agreement and Plan of Merger and Reorganization, dated as of April 26, 2022, by and among Caladrius and Cend Therapeutics, and the transactions contemplated thereby, including the Merger and the issuance of shares of Caladrius’ common stock to Cend’s stockholders pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger and Reorganization, (ii) an amendment to the amended and restated certificate of incorporation of Caladrius to effect a reverse stock split of Caladrius’ common stock, at a ratio mutually agreed to by Caladrius and Cend in the range of one new share for every five to fifteen shares outstanding (or any number in between), and (iii) an amendment to the amended and restated certificate of incorporation of Caladrius to change the corporate name of the Company from “Caladrius Biosciences, Inc.” to “Lisata Therapeutics, Inc.”
Subsequent to the stockholders’ approval, the Caladrius Board of Directors approved a reverse stock split of Caladrius’ common stock at a ratio of one new share for every fifteen shares outstanding. The reverse stock split will become effective today, September 14, 2022, at 5:00pm EST. Subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, the closing of the merger with Cend is expected to occur on September 15, 2022. The consolidated common shares for the combined company, which will be renamed Lisata Therapeutics, Inc., are expected to commence trading on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “LSTA” on September 15, 2022, at 9:30am EST.
“We sincerely thank our stockholders for approving all of the ballot proposals that were voted upon at the annual meeting,” stated David J. Mazzo, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Caladrius. “With our stockholders’ support, we now have the approval needed to form Lisata Therapeutics and the flexibility to execute against our near-and-long term priorities to build upon what we have already accomplished over the past several months in strengthening our business.”
About Caladrius Biosciences
Caladrius Biosciences, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of innovative therapies designed to treat or reverse disease. The Company’s current product candidates include: XOWNA® (CLBS16), the subject of both a recently completed positive Phase 2a study and an ongoing Phase 2b study (www.freedom-trial.com) in the U.S. for the treatment of coronary microvascular dysfunction (“CMD”); CLBS12 (HONEDRA® in Japan), recipient of a SAKIGAKE designation in Japan and eligible for early conditional approval for the treatment of critical limb ischemia (“CLI”) and Buerger’s disease based on the results of an ongoing clinical trial; and CLBS201, designed to assess the safety and efficacy of CD34+ cell therapy as a treatment for diabetic kidney disease (“DKD”). For more information on the Company, please visit www.caladrius.com.
The Company recently announced that it has signed a definitive merger agreement with Cend Therapeutics, Inc. (www.cendrx.com) to form Lisata Therapeutics. Upon closing, Lisata will be a publicly-traded company with an advanced clinical development pipeline and strong balance sheet, which is expected to fund development compounds to their next development milestone. The merger is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022.
About Cend Therapeutics
Cend is a privately held, clinical-stage drug discovery and development company focused on a novel approach to enable more effective treatments for solid tumor cancers. The CendR Platform™ provides a tumor-targeted tissue penetration capability to specifically enhance drug delivery to tumors. Cend is also applying its technology to alter immunosuppression selectively within the tumor microenvironment to enable a patient’s immune system and immunotherapies to fight cancer with greater effectiveness. For more information on Cend, please visit www.cendrx.com.
