Shell of NextCure reborn as Avere via reverse merger; $320M-backed IL-23 asset in psoriasis hinges on Phase 2b efficacy data

Avere Therapeutics (formerly NextCure) is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a targeted therapy for psoriasis that is not yet approved.

NextCure's founding oncology programs, SIM0505 and LNCB74, have been effectively abandoned or transferred, with enrollment halted and LNCB74 transitioned out, as the company was hollowed into a reverse-merger vehicle for Avere Therapeutics and its Hansoh-licensed IL-23 inhibitor AVR-001. The thesis now rests entirely on whether AVR-001 Phase 2b data in psoriasis, expected in H1 2028, demonstrates competitive PASI responses sufficient to support a pivotal program. Phase 1b data showed once-weekly dosing matching a first-generation oral inhibitor at four weeks, but no Phase 2 randomized efficacy exists yet, and pre-merger NextCure holders retain only roughly 1.21% of the combined entity.