Versartis Inc. has completed its merger with Aravive Biologics Inc. following stockholder approval Oct. 5.

The combined company, which will operate as Aravive Inc., will focus on the development of cancer therapies. President and CEO Jay Shepard said in an Oct. 15 statement that the newly formed Aravive will initially focus on developing its lead drug candidate AVB-S6-500 as a potential treatment of patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. The therapy was granted fast track status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in August.

Aravive's common shares will trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ARAV symbol beginning Oct. 16.

In addition to the closure of the merger, the company will implement a 1-for-6 reverse split of its common shares which will reduce its outstanding common shares from 67.1 million to about 11.2 million.