Biopharmaceutical company Peak Bio Co. Ltd. and SPAC Ignyte Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: IGNY) have entered into an agreement to combine to create a publicly listed oncology and inflammation company.
Pursuant to the April 28 deal, the combined company will have a pro forma equity value of $278 million, with the assumption of $10 per share and no shareholder redemptions
According to the filings, a group of investors, which includes existing Peak Bio stockholders and Palo Alto Investors have committed to participate via a $25 million common stock PIPE at a price of $10 per share. There will be approximately $82.5 million in gross proceeds available to the combined company upon consummation. Once the deal has closed, the combined company will be led by Hoyoung Huh, MD, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Peak Bio.
“We are excited about our differentiated inflammation and oncology pipeline and look forward to partnering with Ignyte and advancing our pipeline of potential blockbuster candidates,” Dr. Huh said in a press release. “We believe we will have several near-term catalysts that can be achieved with our cash at closing.”
Peak Bio’s pipeline is focused on the development of oncology and inflammatory disease drugs. Some of these products include its PHP-303 5th generation best-in-class Neutrophil Elastase inhibitor as well as an antibody drug conjugate platform to develop therapies for oncology indicators.
“We are excited to partner with the Peak team in this first of its kind transaction, taking an exciting South Korean biotechnology company public on Nasdaq via a SPAC,” David Rosenberg, Chairman and co-CEO of Ignyte Acquisition Corp., said in a press release. “Dr. Huh’s reputation as a serial founder and entrepreneur of multiple public and private biotech companies made Peak the perfect merger target for Ignyte. We look forward to helping Peak execute on its compelling therapeutic pipeline in both oncology and rare inflammatory disease in order to not only drive shareholder value, but to improve quality of life for those impacted by Peak Bios targeted diseases.”
The deal is expected to be completed in Q3 2022. The combined company will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbol PKBO.
Peak Bio’s legal counsel is Bae, Kim & Lee LLC and BC Burr McCabe Law. Ignyte’s legal counsel is DLA Piper. Additionally, Chardan and Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. are serving as financial advisors to Ignyte and Peak Bio.