Salarius (SLRX) Surges 17.35% on Merger-Linked $7M Offering as Nasdaq Compliance Checks Begin

Salarius Pharmaceuticals (SLRX) surged 17.3469% in pre-market trading on Nov. 13, 2025, following the pricing of a $7 million underwritten offering linked to its pending merger with Decoy Therapeutics. The offering, conditional on the completion of the Decoy deal, is set to close "on or about Nov. 12, 2025," according to the company.

The stock's volatility reflects investor recalibration after Tuesday's sharp selloff, which saw shares drop up to 51% amid concerns over the financing structure. However, renewed buying interest emerged as traders focused on the fixed-price warrant terms—Series A (5-year) and Series B (1-year) warrants with a $1.50 exercise price—which mitigated fears of ongoing price resets. The offering includes 2.5 million common shares, pre-funded warrants, and a greenshoe option for up to 700,000 additional securities.

Net proceeds will fund R&D for both Salarius and Decoy's oncology pipeline, including Seclidemstat for hematologic malignancies and SP-3164, a protein degrader in preclinical stages. The merger, announced in January, aims to create a combined entity focused on peptide-conjugate therapeutics. Regulatory hurdles remain, as Nasdaq requires the post-merger entity to meet initial listing standards before shareholder approval.

The offering's success hinges on the Decoy merger's completion, which has triggered Nasdaq compliance checks. Investors are now monitoring final prospectus filings and potential dilution risks from warrant exercises. While the fixed-price structure offers stability, long-term share count expansion could pressure valuation metrics if warrants are heavily exercised.

Backtest Assumption: A hypothetical strategy tracking SLRX's pre-market momentum would have captured the 17.35% surge, aligning with patterns seen in small-cap biotech offerings tied to merger catalysts. However, the prior 50% intraday rebound highlights the risks of high volatility, suggesting position sizing and stop-loss parameters are critical for managing drawdowns in such scenarios.