Celgene Spinoff Arrives Wall Street with a $138 Million SPAC Deal

A Special Purpose Acquisition Company or SPAC has become one of the popular avenues for biotech companies in recent times to raise money. Some notable companies that have gone the SPAC way include 23andme, Humacyte, Ginkgo Bioworks, etc.

On July 16th, New Jersey-based Celularity Inc. announced closing the SPAC merger it entered with GX Acquisition Corp. in January 2021. The transaction raised a total capital of approximately $138 million included funds held in GX Acquisition Corp’s trust account and a concurrent PIPE financing led by existing Celularity shareholders. The company will start trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol “CELU” on July 19, 2021.

“Celularity aims to transform the way we approach the treatment of cancer and other diseases by harnessing the versatility, unique immune biology, and innate stemness of placental-derived cells,” said Robert J. Hariri, M.D., Ph.D., founder, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of Celularity.

Advancing NK Cell-Based Immunotherapies

Celularity is a Celgene spinoff that emerged in 2018 with a $250 million investment. The clinical-stage biotech specializes in developing off-the-shelf, allogeneic therapies derived from the postpartum human placenta.

Its lead candidate CYNK-001 is the only cryopreserved, allogeneic, off-the-shelf NK cell therapy that is being developed from placental CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells. After displaying promise in preclinical studies, CYNK-001 is currently being evaluated in Phase 1 trials to treat recurrent glioblastoma multiforme.

“We are immensely proud of our clinical development results so far, as well as the state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities we built to support rapid scaling and a competitive cost structure for our placental-derived cell therapeutics. We believe off-the-shelf, allogeneic cell therapies will drive a paradigm shift in how clinicians approach the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases,” Dr. Hariri added.

“We are excited to see Celularity take this very important next step in its evolution as a transformative biotechnology company,” said Dean C. Kehler, Co-Chairman and CEO of GX Acquisition Corp and the new board member of Celularity.

“This step will enable Celularity to continue to leverage the company’s commercial and clinical-stage assets to treat diseases of high unmet need, like cancer, infectious diseases, and degenerative diseases.”

Related Article: Could this Biotech be the First Billion-Dollar Hong Kong Startup to Go Public?

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Author

Rajaneesh K. Gopinath