US-based oral antiviral therapy developer Pardes Biosciences agreed a reverse takeover yesterday with $75m in private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing co-led by biopharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences.
The company is set to merge with special purpose acquisition company FS Development Corp II, which listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market in a $115m initial public offering in January this year.
Foresite Capital, the investment firm affiliated with FS Development Corp II, is co-leading the PIPE with Gilead, Frazier Life Sciences, funds and accounts advised by T Rowe Price, GMF Capital, EcoR1 Capital and Monashee Investment Management.
Founded in 2020, Pardes is developing oral antiviral drugs targeting SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes covid-19 infections. Its lead candidate, PBI-0451, is designed to prevent the virus’s main protease enzyme from working in the body.
The proceeds from the transaction will be used to improve PBI-0451 and other candidates and begin clinical trials later in the year. The startup raised $51.6m in equity funding in February this year from 36 undisclosed investors, according to a securities filing.
Pardes CEO Uri Lopatin said: “Covid-19 has been a global medical catastrophe. Over the past year, we have been focused on bringing forward PBI-0451, a viral protease inhibitor that we are developing to be a potential oral therapy for SARS-CoV-2 infections. Oral antivirals are expected to play an important role in ending this pandemic and preventing the next one.”
