Market turmoil may have frozen the traditional IPO pipeline, but German antibody biotech Veraxa is turning to the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) model to hop onto the Nasdaq.
The deal, which is expected to complete in the fourth quarter, will see Veraxa merge with publicly listed blank check company Voyager Acquisition. The transaction values Veraxa at $1.3 billion, according to an April 23 release, and the resulting company should have up to $253 million in cash courtesy of Voyager.
Veraxa’s pipeline is centered on its Bi-Targeted Antibody Cytotoxicity platform, which it is using to design next-gen solid tumor therapies. So far, the biotech has brought one candidate into the clinic in the form of VX-A901, a Fc-enhanced therapeutic antibody targeting FLT3 that has entered a phase 1 trial for leukemia.
The company said it is now “actively pursuing” bispecific antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) and T cell engagers, two red-hot areas of cancer research. By combining its in-house development with seeking out partners, the biotech hopes that by 2029 it will have three drugs in the clinic as well as “a growing portfolio of licensed assets.”
“Our platform technologies can be applied to empower multiple therapeutic strategies spanning next-generation antibody-drug conjugates including our BiTAC ADCs and bi-specific BiTAC immune cell engagers,” Veraxa’s CEO Christoph Antz, Ph.D., said in the release.
“Side effects too often limit today’s cancer therapies and prevent doctors from applying optimal dose levels,” Antz added. “Our latest platform innovation, the BiTAC format, is designed to specifically address this issue and create first-in-class drug candidates with unprecedented safety and efficacy.”
One of Veraxa’s majority shareholders is Swiss life science incubator Xlife Sciences. The incubator’s CEO Oliver Baumann is acting chairman of Veraxa’s board.
“The planned Nasdaq listing of Veraxa marks a pivotal milestone for both Veraxa and Xlife Sciences and exemplifies our mission of bringing groundbreaking science from the lab to life - and to the market,” Baumann said. “The access to the U.S. capital markets provided by this combination will support the realization of Veraxa's powerful technology platform and clinical assets, paving the way for potential significant value creation.”
Voyager CEO Adeel Rouf said the SPAC was set up with the mission to “identify innovative healthcare companies positioned for long-term success with strong business models and expansive total addressable markets.”
“Veraxa exemplifies all these compelling characteristics, underscored by a steadfast commitment to bring transformative drug modalities to cancer patients through pursuing strategic global partnerships and advancing its proprietary pipeline,” Rouf added.
Veraxa and Voyager are a rare example of a SPAC deal in biotech in 2025. After a number of high-profile announcements were made in late 2022, the reverse merger model once again dropped off in 2023, with a few exceptions, such as BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics which plans to merge with Helix Acquisition Corp. II later this year.