Salarius Pharmaceuticals Shares Skyrocket: The Merger Factor

Salarius Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SLRX) shares have been on a remarkable surge, soaring by +170.32% to reach $4.20 during Monday's morning trading session. The volume of trading has been extraordinary, with 97.71 million shares changing hands, far exceeding its average daily volume of 352,447. This explosive growth has made Salarius one of the trending stocks for today, with investors closely watching the developments driving this surge.



Stock Performance: A Comparison to the Broader Market
Salarius Pharmaceuticals' stellar performance in 2025 is even more remarkable when compared to the broader market. The company's year-to-date (YTD) performance has been +203.29%, significantly outpacing the S&P 500, which is currently down by -1.93% for the year. This divergence between Salarius and the S&P 500 highlights the company's potential for growth, particularly within the biotech sector.

The Big News Behind the Surge
The significant rise in Salarius' stock price can be attributed to a major announcement regarding its merger with Decoy Therapeutics, Inc., a preclinical biopharmaceutical company. The merger is set to create a new entity called Decoy Therapeutics, combining Salarius' cancer-focused expertise with Decoy's cutting-edge peptide conjugate technology. The merger, which is subject to closing conditions, promises to bring about multiple inflection points and provide access to innovative drug candidates with the potential to target critical unmet needs in respiratory infectious diseases and gastroenterology (GI) oncology.

The Impact of the Decoy Therapeutics Merger
The combination of Salarius Pharmaceuticals and Decoy Therapeutics presents exciting new prospects for both companies. Decoy's IMP3ACT platform, a groundbreaking tool that uses machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to design novel peptide conjugate therapeutics, will be a key driver for innovation. The merger will focus on peptide conjugates engineered for a wide array of serious diseases, including respiratory viruses such as the flu and COVID-19, as well as cancers affecting the GI tract.

Salarius also intends to incorporate its oral small molecule protein degrader, SP-3164, into PROTACs (proteolysis-targeting chimeras) as part of this combined portfolio, further enhancing its drug development capabilities. Decoy's Promising Pipeline and the Future of Peptide Conjugates Decoy Therapeutics has been at the forefront of developing next-generation peptide conjugate therapeutics, with a focus on addressing urgent health crises. The company's pipeline includes a pan-coronavirus antiviral and broad-acting antivirals targeting flu, COVID-19, and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus). These therapies are expected to enter the clinical phase in the coming months, including filing an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the FDA. This exciting potential for rapid, effective treatments makes Decoy an important player in the fight against infectious diseases.

What's Next for Salarius and Decoy?
As the two companies integrate, their combined focus on peptide-based therapeutics and targeted drug development is expected to result in several key milestones. Over the next 12 months, Decoy aims to file an IND application for its antiviral program, while Salarius continues to support the ongoing clinical trial of its lead cancer therapy, seclidemstat, at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Executive Leadership: A Strong Team at the Helm The merger will bring together an experienced management team, with Rick Pierce, Decoy's CEO, leading the combined company. Pierce's background in life sciences and corporate development, along with the expertise of Decoy's co-founder Barbara Hibner and Salarius' CFO Mark Rosenblum, ensures a solid foundation for the merged company. The leadership team's experience across biopharma, investment banking, and technology will be key in advancing their innovative pipeline and creating shareholder value.

In his comments, Pierce emphasized the strategic significance of peptide conjugates as an increasingly important drug class. With the backing of AI and machine learning tools, Decoy aims to expedite the development of novel therapeutics, unlocking new opportunities to address unmet medical needs.

Salarius Pharmaceuticals: A Leader in Cancer Research Beyond the merger, Salarius Pharmaceuticals remains a notable entity in the oncology space. The company's seclidemstat is being studied for hematologic cancers such as myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) in an ongoing investigator-initiated Phase 1/2 clinical trial at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Seclidemstat has the potential to pave the way for new treatment options in these challenging therapeutic areas.

In conclusion, Salarius Pharmaceuticals' remarkable stock price surge can be attributed to the strategic merger with Decoy Therapeutics, which promises to unlock new opportunities in respiratory infectious diseases and cancer research. With a strong leadership team and a promising pipeline, the combined company is well-positioned to create significant value for shareholders in the coming months. As investors continue to monitor the developments surrounding this merger, they can expect exciting updates and potential growth opportunities in the biotech sector.