Minovia’s lead product is MNV-201, an autologous hematopoietic stem cell product that is enriched with allogeneic mitochondria.
Minovia Therapeutics, an Israeli biotech hoping to get to the root causes of disease and aging, is planting itself onto the Nasdaq through a special purpose acquisition company transaction valued at $180 million.
The company will combine with Launch One Acquisition Corp. to become Mito US One, according to a Wednesday press release. The result will be a publicly traded biotech focused on Minovia’s mitochondrial augmentation technology, a platform that finds therapies for diseases driven by mitochondrial dysfunction.
Minovia’s lead product is MNV-201, an autologous hematopoietic stem cell product that is enriched with allogeneic mitochondria. The biotech is testing the therapy in a Phase II trial for the ultra-rare pediatric disorder Pearson syndrome and in a Phase Ib study for low-risk myelodysplastic syndrome.
The transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, will give Minovia access to a portion of $239.7 million in cash from Launch One’s trust account. Minovia will receive capital to boost growth and develop its pipeline, including reaching certain regulatory and clinical milestones and eventual commercial launches.
Companies across biotech have been waiting for the public markets to open up, with only a handful making a run at an IPO this year. Minovia’s SPAC deal follows a similar one from Swiss cancer biotech Veraxa in April. In that deal, the ADC biotech combined with Voyager Acquisition Corp. for a valuation of $1.64 billion. And in February, BridgeBio did the same with Helix Acquisition Corp. II in a deal worth $450 million in proceeds.
