NextCure and Avere Therapeutics Announce Merger to Advance Once-Weekly Oral IL-23 Therapy

NextCure Inc. announced a definitive merger agreement with privately-held Avere Therapeutics in an all-stock transaction. The combined company will operate as Avere Therapeutics and trade on Nasdaq under ticker 'AVRX'. Avere's lead program AVR-001, an oral IL-23 receptor antagonist, received $320 million in concurrent private investment. The merger is expected to close in H2 2026, with NextCure stockholders owning approximately 1.21% of the combined entity.