Fulcrum and Slate Medicines merger

Fulcrum Therapeutics and Slate Medicines have signed a definitive all-stock merger agreement to create a combined company focused on next-generation migraine treatments. The combined entity will operate as Slate Medicines and trade on Nasdaq under the ticker SLTE. The transaction is backed by an oversubscribed $245 million private placement led by Frazier Life Sciences, with participation from Forbion Ventures, RA Capital Management, Deep Track Capital, Foresite Capital, OrbiMed, RTW Investments, and Mingxin Capital. The combined company's cash at closing is expected to fund operations into 2029, supporting the lead candidate SLTE-1009 through Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies. Fulcrum will contribute approximately $20.3 million in net cash and pay a cash dividend of about $270 million to its stockholders prior to closing. Pre-merger Fulcrum stockholders are expected to own about 5% of the combined company, while Slate stockholders and financing investors will own about 95%. Gregory Oakes will serve as CEO of the combined company. The merger has received unanimous board approval and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. Fulcrum is rebuilding after discontinuing its sickle cell drug pociredir due to FDA concerns.