Medera Inc. has reached an agreement with the special purpose acquisition company Keen Vision Acquisition Corp. to be listed on the nasdaq through a merger.
According to the financial news, the cardiovascular disease treatment drug development company Medera Inc. has reached an agreement with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Keen Vision Acquisition Corp. (KVAC.US) to be listed on the nasdaq through a merger. According to both companies, the valuation of this deal for Medera is 0.6226 billion dollars. Before shareholder redemption, the total cash proceeds of this deal amount to approximately 0.1495 billion dollars, from the SPAC's trust account. The transaction has received unanimous approval from the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter.
Medera's founder and CEO, Ronald Li, stated that the company decided to go through the SPAC for the transaction instead of an initial public offering (IPO) because the SPAC provides the fastest access to the capital markets. Li said in an interview, "We both have choices. Developing our clinical assets to serve a large population is very important."
Through its Sardocor and Novoheart divisions, Medera focuses on combining biotechnology human body technology to eradicate difficult-to-treat cardiovascular diseases using a series of next-generation gene- and cell-based approaches.
Li stated that the company's 'miniature human heart' technology allows it to test therapies using laboratory-manufactured human heart tissue, which is more accurate and less controversial than animal experiments. He said that Medera has three gene-based therapies in clinical trials. Medera has collaborated on this technology with Astrazeneca Corp. (AZN.US), the Singapore National Heart Center, and other institutions.
Kenneth KC Wong, Chairman and CEO of Keen Vision Acquisition, stated that before determining that Medera might be a good target, he looked at other opportunities. Wong said, "Medera's positioning is very unique, as it not only has clinical aspects but also a technological platform."
Last year, Keen Vision raised approximately 0.15 billion dollars through its initial public offering (IPO), including over-allotment shares. Data shows that since reaching a peak of over 162 billion dollars in 2021, SPACs only raised 3.4 billion dollars in IPOs on the exchange in the USA in 2023, the lowest level since 2014. The data also shows that SPAC merger transactions peaked in 2021 and have declined to about 6 billion dollars this year. The financing scale of SPACs has rebounded slightly, with IPOs totaling 5 billion dollars since January 1st.