Valo Health and Montai Therapeutics announced a merger. The combined company will keep the Valo Health name. Brian Alexander, CEO of Valo and CEO-Partner at Flagship Pioneering, will lead it.
Pipeline focus
The combined company will advance an immunology and inflammation pipeline. Its lead program is MTAI-1025, an oral NRF2 agonist in Phase 1 for ulcerative colitis. Valo will also develop an oral STAT6 inhibitor for atopic dermatitis and other type 2 inflammatory diseases.
Platform and partnerships
Valo uses AI to study disease causality and identify patient subtypes. Montai brings a chemistry platform called CONECTA that decodes bioactive chemistry. Existing partnerships with Novo Nordisk and Merck KGaA in cardiometabolic and neurodegenerative diseases will continue.
Leadership and origins
Both companies were founded within the Flagship Pioneering ecosystem in 2019. Montai co-founder and CEO Margo Georgiadis will stay on as an advisor. The merger combines Valo's human causal biology platform with Montai's chemistry platform and clinical-stage pipeline.
Valo will continue to advance wholly owned and partnered programs. Additional programs targeting validated immune disease pathways have near-term development milestones. MTAI-1025 remains in Phase 1 clinical development.