Finance Watch: A SPACtacular Week For Biopharma Deals And Dollars

Public Company Edition: Four health care special purpose acquisition vehicles went public and two others announced mergers, but only one biopharma firm priced an IPO during the week of 19-23 October. Replimune’s $250m offering led recent FOPOs.

Finance Watch

Special purpose acquisition corporations (SPACs) focused on health care investments, including biopharmaceutical opportunities, continue to go public in the US and now they are putting the money they have raised to work. Four health care SPACs launched initial public offerings during the week of 19-23 October and two others announced mergers with biopharma companies.

More from Financing

Q1 IPOs Rise From Q4, But Unstable Markets Could Slow New Offerings

 
• By 

There were six biopharma initial public offerings on Western stock exchanges, including five in the US, during the first quarter, but plunging stock values could halt further IPOs.

Finance Watch: As Stocks Tumble, Offerings Slow, Financial Alternatives Rise

 
• By 

Public Company Edition: Stock valuations are falling due to political, economic and regulatory uncertainty, resulting in fewer large public offerings, more alternative financings and cost cuts. Carisma, Tenaya, BioAtla, Arbutus, Nkarta, Alector and Adaptimmune announced layoffs.

AIRNA To Take RNA Editing Into The Clinic With $155m Series B Round

 
• By 

CEO Kris Elverum told Scrip about the start-up’s platform for editing RNA to correct genetic variants that cause harm and to reproduce healthy variants as a means of treating disease.

Isomorphic Adds To Growing AI War Chest With First External Funding Round

 

The four-year-old firm said it plans to advance programs toward the clinic from the funding round, which comes just over a year after signing two major pharma partnerships.

More from Business

PureTech Weighs Up Pros And Cons Of Going Private

 
• By 

The biotech has rejected a takeover bid from Nordic Capital but a sale to private equity could be a solution to the public market's continued reluctance to adequately value PureTech’s hub-and-spoke business model.

Q1 IPOs Rise From Q4, But Unstable Markets Could Slow New Offerings

 
• By 

There were six biopharma initial public offerings on Western stock exchanges, including five in the US, during the first quarter, but plunging stock values could halt further IPOs.

US Pharma Tariff Reprieve Appears Short-Lived

 

Sector-specific tariffs, including on pharmaceuticals, could be announced as early as this week.