Johns Hopkins spinout Blade Therapeutics has agreed to a reverse merger that will net it $24.3m in Pipe financing from backers including Osage University Partners.

Blade Therapeutics, a US-based fibrosis treatment developer spun out from Johns Hopkins University, has agreed to a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company Biotech Acquisition Company. The merger is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2022, whereupon Biotech Acquisition Company will be rebranded to Blade Biotherapeutics and list on Nasdaq using the ticker symbol BBTX. Osage University Partners is among the investors who are anchoring a $24.3m private investment in public equity deal, as are Deerfield Management, MPM Capital and pharmaceutical firms Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer, the latter through its Pfizer Ventures unit. Together with the capital already held in Biotech Acquisition Company’s trust, the combined business will have access to some $254m in funding. The combined company is expected to have a valuation of nearly $353m. Founded in 2015, Blade Therapeutics is developing therapies for lung, liver and cardiac fibrosis as well as neurodegenerative diseases. It will use the proceeds from the reverse merger to support preclinical, clinical and manufacturing activities for its lead assets. Money will also be allocated to a pipeline expansion. Blade obtained $38m in equity and other options in October 2019, according to a regulatory filing. The company filed a separate document the same week disclosing nearly $12m in equity and securities, with the two rounds seemingly unrelated. Blade Therapeutics completed a $45m series B round in 2017 when Deerfield Management led an extension that also included Osage University Partners, MPM Capital, Pfizer Ventures, Bristol Myers Squibb and peer Novartis’ Institutes of Biomedical Research. Osage University Partners had already backed a $6.5m series A round in July 2015 together with MPM Capital.

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Thierry Heles

Thierry Heles is the editor of Global University Venturing, host of the Beyond the Breakthrough interview podcast and responsible for the monthly GUV Gazette (sign up here for free).