Dynogen Tries the SPAC Alternative

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies--SPACs--are springing up in the wide spaces abandoned by IPOs-- and they look tempting for those biotechs who can't get to a Big Pharma deal without first raising a big slug of money. That's Dynogen's problem: no deal until it can show solid efficacy from its two lead compounds. With no IPO or big private financing likely, Dynogen turned to a SPAC, a public shell company created to find a Dynogen-like opportunity. But SPAC investors can extract a big price for their cooperation-particularly in the current risk-averse public market.