Dive Brief:

概要：

Veraxa Biotech, a cancer therapy developer backed by Swiss incubator Xlife Sciences, will go public

瑞士孵化器Xlife Sciences支持的癌症治疗开发商Veraxa Biotech将上市。

through a combination with a blank-check entity

通过与空白支票实体结合

in a deal that will value the company at as much as $1.6 billion and leave it with $253 million in cash.

在这项交易中，公司的估值将高达16亿美元，并且将拥有2.53亿美元的现金。

In addition to Xlife, Veraxa’s major shareholders are the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and its technology transfer arm, Emblem. Veraxa, founded on scientific discoveries at the European lab, said it’s recently widened its scope to focus on two hot areas in cancer research: antibody-drug conjugates and T cell engagers..

除了Xlife，Veraxa的主要股东是欧洲分子生物学实验室及其技术转让部门Emblem。 Veraxa基于在欧洲实验室的科学发现创立，该公司表示最近已扩大了其范围，聚焦于癌症研究中的两大热门领域：抗体药物偶联物和T细胞衔接器。

Veraxa expects the transaction with Voyager Acquisition to close in the fourth quarter, after which the company will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol “VERX.” The German biotech is also undertaking a crossover financing round that it expects to produce enough cash for two years’ worth of operations, according to a press release Wednesday..

Veraxa预计与Voyager Acquisition的交易将在第四季度完成，之后公司将在纳斯达克上市，股票代码为“VERX”。这家德国生物技术公司还在进行一轮交叉融资，据周三的新闻稿称，预计这将为公司提供足够支撑两年运营的现金。

Dive Insight:

深度洞察：

The Voyager-Veraxa merger is part of an uptick in special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC activity that began in the second half of 2024.

Voyager-Veraxa合并是特殊目的收购公司（SPAC）活动增加的一部分，该活动始于2024年下半年。

SPAC deals

SPAC交易

boomed in 2020

2020年蓬勃发展

, offering a quicker path for startups to go public and allowing investors to keep a bigger share of the resulting company. But the

，为初创公司提供了一条更快的上市途径，并允许投资者保留更大份额的成果公司。但是

returns

返回值

largely failed to live up to the hype, and the number of transactions plummeted amid heightened regulatory

在监管加强的情况下，很大程度上未能达到炒作的预期，交易数量急剧下降

oversight

监督

.

。

The deals are gaining new interest in a biotech market that’s been

这些交易正在引起生物技术市场的新兴趣，这个市场一直

roiled by President Trump’s tariffs

因特朗普总统的关税政策而动荡不安

and regulatory uncertainty.

和监管不确定性。

IPOs have stalled

IPO已经停滞

since February, venture firms are

自二月以来，风险投资公司

making fewer bets

减少下注次数

, and the

，以及

pace of startup creation

创业公司成立的速度

is slowing.

正在放缓。

Veraxa says its artificial intelligence-driven technology is designed to produce dual-target cancer therapies that work better with fewer side effects and may offer lucrative returns for investors. The market for antibody drug conjugates is estimated to reach $57 billion by 2030, while sales of T cell engagers should climb to $112 billion, the company said..

Veraxa表示，其人工智能驱动的技术旨在生产双靶点癌症疗法，这种疗法效果更好，副作用更少，并可能为投资者带来丰厚回报。该公司称，到2030年，抗体药物偶联物的市场规模预计将达到570亿美元，而T细胞结合剂的销售额应会攀升至1120亿美元。

The popularity of the approach is evidenced by the fact that multiple deals worth more than $1 billion have come together in the space since 2023, Voyager board chair Warren Hosseinion said in a statement. Investors have also been rewarding early successes in research for companies including

沃伊杰董事会主席沃伦·霍塞尼翁在一份声明中表示，自 2023 年以来，该领域已经达成了多笔价值超过 10 亿美元的交易，这一事实证明了该方法的受欢迎程度。投资者还对包括以下公司在内的一些企业研究早期取得的成功给予了奖励。

Janux Therapeutics

扬努克斯治疗学公司

.

。

At this stage, most of Veraxa’s

在这个阶段，Veraxa的大部分

pipeline

管道

is in the discovery phase, with one therapy for leukemia in Phase 1 research. But the company said it’s going to expand with both in-house breakthroughs and strategic partnerships. It expects to have three proprietary programs in the clinic by 2029 along with “a growing portfolio of licensed assets.”.

处于发现阶段，其中一种用于治疗白血病的疗法正处于第一阶段研究。但该公司表示，它将通过内部突破和战略合作伙伴关系进行扩展。预计到 2029 年将有三个自主项目进入临床阶段，并且“授权资产组合也会不断扩大”。