While the IPO landscape remains icy, Minovia Therapeutics is skating into the market using a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
The Israeli biotech is planning to merge with publicly listed Launch One Acquisition, according to a June 25 release. Once the transaction closes, the newly combined company will operate under the name Mito US One and trade on the Nasdaq.
The agreement gives Minovia a pre-money equity valuation of $180 million, which will increase with an expected bridge financing of at least $5 million to Minovia equity holders within 30 days of signing the merger. Equity holders could also receive additional shares worth up to $57.5 million in total after the deal closes, according to the release.
Furthermore, the combined company expects at least $18 million in private investment in public equity (PIPE) money when the deal goes through. Launch One also has about $240 million in cash in a trust account, of which some may be available to Mito US One, depending on redemptions by public shareholders.
The money will help fuel Minovia’s pipeline growth, including support for lead product MNV-201. The mitochondrial cell therapy is being tested in a mid-stage clinical trial for Pearson Syndrome, an extremely rare and severe pediatric disorder. The candidate has snagged both fast track and rare pediatric tags from the FDA in the indication.
The biotech is also studying MNV-201 in a phase 1b study for low-risk myelodysplastic syndrome, a chronic blood disorder.
MNV-201 consists of a patient's autologous CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Minovia created the product using its own platform, dubbed mitochondrial augmentation technology (MAT). The biotech believes its tech has the potential to treat both rare genetic mitochondrial diseases and age-related mitochondrial dysfunction disorders.
“Minovia provides a clinical-stage platform with the potential to lead an entirely new category of cell therapy,” Launch One Acquisition CEO Chris Ehrlich said in the release. “The company is advancing toward pivotal trials and we expect it will be bringing U.S.-based GMP manufacturing online by the end of 2025, allowing it to scale both its rare disease and longevity programs globally.”