Salarius Pharmaceuticals (SLRX) has closed its merger with Flex Pharma and began trading on the Nasdaq last week. In an exclusive interview with The Fly, Salarius Pharmaceuticals' David Arthur said that both ongoing Phase 1 clinical studies were progressing as expected and that he hoped to discuss early cohort data next year.

FLEX PHARMA MERGER CLOSED: Salarius Pharmaceuticals closed its merger with Flex Pharma on July 19, with the newly combined company to focus on the continued development of Salarius' clinical pipeline targeting rare, orphan cancers for which no approved targeted treatments are currently available and cancers with a high unmet need. Last Monday, Salarius began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SLRX. "Being a public company not only give us access to new investors, but it's also a great platform for us to be able to tell our story and talk about our science. And that's ultimately what it's all about. The next step in the process is for analysts to begin covering us and we certainly hope that will begin in the next short period of time," CEO David Arthur told The Fly.

EWING SARCOMA, ADVANCED SOLID TUMORS TRIALS: The company is currently enrolling refractory and relapsed Ewing sarcoma patients in an open-label Phase 1 dose escalation/dose expansion study, and is also conducting a Phase 1 clinical study of Seclidemstat in patients with advanced solid tumors including, but not limited to, prostate, breast, and ovarian cancers. Arthur said that both studies are progressing as expected and Salarius hopes "to be able to discuss early cohort data next year."

'FORTUNATE COMPANY': Discussing Salarius' first half of 2019, the CEO noted that, "We've had a very busy 2019 so far with the merger being announced in January, the closing of the merger, the announcement of first patient enrollment in the advanced solid tumor study, and [on Tuesday] opening the Nasdaq by ringing the bell. It's been a good six months so far. We're a very fortunate company because we come to work every day and we're able to take the fight to cancer. And one of the cancers were taking the fight to is Ewing sarcoma, which is a devastating rare childhood and young adult bone cancer bone and soft tissue cancer with no approved targeted therapies, only debilitating treatments: adult chemotherapy radiation and resection or surgery. With as much excitement as we have about ringing the bell and beginning Nasdaq trading, what we do is important."