Are we witnessing the return of biotech SPACs? It's worth considering as Apollomics merges with Maxpro Capital Acquisition Corp.—the second such transaction in recent weeks.
The deal with special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC) Maxpro is set to close in the first quarter of 2023 and means California-based Apollomics will become a public traded company. Apollomics is valued at pre-money equity value of $899 million, according to a Sept. 14 release.
These so-called blank check deals, which were a staple in the industry just a couple of years ago, were all but left for dead in 2022—not a single SPAC merger occurred in the first quarter. However, just last month Ocean Biomedical announced a merger deal with Aesther Healthcare Acquisition Corp, igniting a SPAC spark of hope.
Apollomics is a late-stage clinical company with nine drug candidates in different oncology indications, including two lead candidates in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
The biotech anticipates results from its global phase 2 trial of vebreltinib—an oral inhibitor designed to treat NSCLC and other solid tumors with cMET dysregulation—in 2023 and hopes the data could support its first new drug application with the FDA. Apollomics also expects to wrap up patient recruitment next year for a phase 3 study in China assessing uproleselan—an E-selectin antagonist—in patients with AML.
Once the transaction closes, Apollomics will still be led by current CEO and Chair Guo-Liang Yu, Ph.D.
“We anticipate that the funds available to us from this transaction will help us accelerate development of our oncology pipeline,” Yu said.