(Bloomberg) -- Medera Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for cardiovascular diseases, has reached an agreement to go public on the Nasdaq through a merger with Keen Vision Acquisition Corp.
The deal values Medera at $622.6 million, according to the companies. Cash proceeds from the transactions will total about $149.5 million from the special purpose acquisition company’s trust account, before any redemptions by its stockholders.
Medera founder and Chief Executive Officer Ronald Li said the company decided on a SPAC transaction over an initial public offering because it provided the quickest access to capital markets.
“We absolutely had options on both sides,” Li said in an interview. “It is very important to develop our clinical assets to serve a huge population.”
Boston-based Medera is focused on eradicating difficult-to-treat cardiovascular diseases with a range of next-generation gene- and cell-based approaches in combination with bioengineered human-based technology, operating through its Sardocor and Novoheart units.
The company’s “human heart-in-a-jar” technology allows it to test therapies using lab-created human cardiac tissues, which is more accurate and less controversial than animal testing, Li said. Medera has three gene-based therapies in clinical trials, he said.
Medera has worked with AstraZeneca Plc, National Heart Centre Singapore and others to develop its technology.
Kenneth KC Wong, chairman and chief executive officer of Keen Vision, was vice chairman of Medera when he launched the SPAC. He said he searched for other opportunities before deciding that Medera could be a good target.
“Medera is very uniquely positioned because not only does it have a clinical side, it has a technology platform,” Wong said.
The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
Keen Vision raised about $150 million, including overallotment shares, in an IPO last year, well past the crest of the record-setting SPAC wave of 2021. Since topping out at more than $162 billion that year, SPAC IPOs raised only $3.4 billion on US exchanges in 2023, the smallest total since 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
SPAC merger deals, which also peaked in 2021, have slipped to about $6 billion this year, the data show. SPAC fundraising has rebounded a little, with IPOs reaching $5 billion since Jan. 1.
--With assistance from Michelle F. Davis.
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