GENE ONLINE|News &
Opinion
Blog

2021-07-19| M&A

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

by Rajaneesh K. Gopinath
Share To

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?

 

©www.geneonline.com All rights reserved. Collaborate with us: [email protected]
Related Post
Looking Back at the Cell and Gene Therapy Leaders That Made Waves in 2024
2025-03-31
M&A
Bristol Myers Squibb Acquires Cancer Cell Therapy Partner 2seventy Bio in $286M Deal
2025-03-12
How Minaris is Tackling the Scalability Challenge in Cell and Gene Therapy: A Conversation with CEO, Dr. Hiroto Bando
2024-11-26
LATEST
AACR Annual Meeting 2025: Cancer Research Innovations, NIH Funding Advocacy, and AI-Driven Advances
2025-04-28
Senti Biosciences to Showcase New Cell & GeneTherapy Data at AACR Annual Meeting 2025
2025-04-27
World Vaccine Congress Washington 2025 Recap: Urgent Calls for Trust, Tech, and Global Access
2025-04-25
Astellas’ Transformation Journey: From Merger to Global Player, Betting on the Edge of Innovation and Risk?
2025-04-25
Roche Announces Massive 50 Billion Dollar Investment in the United States
2025-04-25
Steminent Stands Ready to Showcase Novel MSC-based Therapy for Spinocerebellar Ataxia at Global Stage
2025-04-24
Arkansas Medicaid Work Requirements Led to Coverage Loss for a Significant Number of Recipients
2025-04-24
EVENT
2025-04-25
AACR Annual Meeting 2025
Chicago, U.S.A
2025-05-03
29th Taiwan Joint Cancer Conference 2025
Taipei, Taiwan
2025-05-05
Swiss Biotech Day 2025
Basel, Switzerland
2025-05-13
ASGCT 28th Annual Meeting 2025
New Orleans, U.S.A.
2025-05-30
ASCO Annual Meeting 2025
Chicago, U.S.A
2025-06-11
ISSCR 2025 Annual Meeting
Hong Kong
Scroll to Top