Troubled Nivalis to merge with Alpine

Privately held Alpine Immune Sciences will merge with publicly traded Nivalis Therapeutics in an all-stock deal. In advance of the deal closing, three venture capital firms—Frazier Healthcare Partners, Alpine BioVentures, and OrbiMed Advisors—will put $17 million into Alpine. The combined company will retain Alpine’s name and have nearly $90 million in cash. Nivalis has been winding down R&D after the failure in November of a Phase II trial of its cystic fibrosis treatment cavosonstat. Alpine uses directed evolution to create protein-based therapies that can modulate immune response.