Exhibit 99.1
Syros Announces Closing of Merger with Tyme Technologies and Concurrent Private Placement
— Cash and cash equivalents of approximately $240 million after giving effect to close —
— Timothy C. Tyson and Andrew Oh join Syros Board of Directors —
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 16, 2022 – Syros Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYRS), a leader in the development of medicines that control the expression of genes, today announced the closing of its merger with Tyme Technologies, Inc., pursuant to which Syros acquired TYME, including its pipeline assets and net cash at closing of approximately $60 million. Shares of the combined company will trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “SYRS.”
Concurrent with the closing of the merger, Syros also closed the previously announced oversubscribed $130 million private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing. New and existing investors in the PIPE, which was led by a life-sciences focused investment fund, include Syros co-founder and founding investor Flagship Pioneering, Avidity Partners, Deep Track Capital, Bain Capital Life Sciences, Invus, Samsara BioCapital, Adage Capital Partners LP, Ally Bridge Group and Cowen Healthcare Investments, as well as other investors.
Following the closing of these transactions, as well as the effectiveness of the previously disclosed amendment to Syros’ senior secured loan facility with Oxford Finance LLC, Syros has approximately $240 million in cash and other capital resources (after transaction expenses), which it believes will be sufficient to fund its planned operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements into 2025.
“We are pleased to announce the closing of these transactions, which is expected to bring us the necessary capital to advance our later-stage targeted hematology programs and support our early commercialization activities,” said Nancy Simonian, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Syros. “Looking ahead, we believe we are well-positioned to create value for all our stakeholders. We remain on track to report data from the safety lead-in portions of our SELECT-AML-1 trial of tamibarotene and Phase 1 trial of SY-5609 in pancreatic cancer later this year and pivotal data from the SELECT-MDS-1 trial of tamibarotene in late 2023 or early 2024, and look forward to initiating our Phase 3 trial of SY-2101 in the second half of 2023. We greatly appreciate the support of our new and existing shareholders as we work toward our vision of bringing forward medicines that redefine the standard of care for cancer patients.”
As previously disclosed, Syros today effected a 1-for-10 reverse stock split of its common stock. Syros’ common stock will begin trading on Nasdaq on a split-adjusted basis when the market opens on Monday, September 19, 2022. The new CUSIP number for Syros’ common stock following the reverse stock split is 87184Q206.
Following completion of the merger and the PIPE financing, and taking into consideration the reverse stock split, Syros has, in the aggregate, approximately 27.8 million shares of common stock and prefunded warrants to purchase shares of common stock outstanding (consisting of approximately 20.3 million shares of common stock and prefunded warrants to purchase approximately 7.5 million shares of common stock). Syros also issued warrants to purchase an additional 13.8 million shares of common stock in the PIPE financing.
Piper Sandler & Co. served as financial advisor to Syros. Moelis & Company LLC served as financial advisor to TYME. Cowen and Piper Sandler & Co. served as placement agents for the PIPE transaction. WilmerHale LLP served as legal counsel to Syros. Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP served as legal counsel to TYME.
Management and Organization
As previously announced, the Syros leadership team will continue leading the combined company, with Nancy Simonian, M.D., serving as Chief Executive Officer, David A. Roth, M.D., serving as Chief Medical Officer, Kristin Stephens serving as Chief Development Officer, Eric Olson, Ph.D., serving as Chief Scientific Officer, Jason Haas serving as Chief Financial Officer and Conley Chee serving as Chief Commercial Officer.
Following the closing of the transactions, Syros added two new members, Timothy C. Tyson and Andrew Oh, to its board of directors.