For years, Galmed Pharmaceuticals chased a drug for liver disease. On September 9, it scrapped the name, the ticker, and the corporate identity.
The company is now EoCene Ltd., trading on Nasdaq under the symbol EOCN. At the centre of the rebrand is Colospan, a subsidiary Galmed acquired in June, which makes a device called CG-100. Designed to protect the surgical join made during colorectal operations, it sits inside the bowel to shield that join while it heals — reducing the need for surgeons to route the bowel through a temporary opening in the abdomen. The device is approved for sale in Europe and Israel but is not approved for commercial use in the United States, where it is running a pivotal trial and holds an FDA designation for expedited development and review.
For shareholders, the company they own has shifted character. Chief Executive Allen Baharaff said in the announcement that because CG-100 is already commercial-ready in Europe and Israel, the company believes Colospan may generate revenue faster than a conventional drug programme. The company said it held about $11.4 million in cash and short-term investments as of June 30, which it called a sufficient foundation to execute the transition.
In the same announcement, the company cut off its equity line with investor YA II PN, Ltd., known as Yorkville, effective September 8. That facility had offered up to $20 million in funding; before termination, the company had drawn about $7.3 million, issuing 437,947 ordinary shares in the process. The announcement gave no reason for the termination.
The rebrand also arrived alongside the end of a separate problem. Nasdaq had warned the company in January 2026 that its shares had failed to hold the exchange's required minimum price of $1.00 per share, triggering a compliance notice. The company missed its first deadline and received an extension. It cleared the bar by holding above $1.00 for 10 consecutive trading days between August 20 and September 2, and Nasdaq confirmed compliance on September 3.
Shares closed 21.05% higher at $4.6300 on September 10, after the rebrand was announced, on dollar volume of about $1.25 million.
The drug that Galmed was originally built around — Aramchol, a compound being tested in liver disease and certain cancers — stays in the pipeline. Whether a company that spent years as a pre-revenue liver biotech can convert a colorectal device into commercial sales is the question the new name does not answer.