Pear Therapeutics, the US-based digital therapeutics developer backed by pharmaceutical firm Novartis and internet and telecommunications group SoftBank, agreed yesterday to list on the Nasdaq Capital Market through a reverse merger.
The company is joining forces with special purpose acquisition company Thimble Point Acquisition Corp, which floated on Nasdaq in a $240m initial public offering in February this year, at a pro forma equity value of approximately $1.6bn.
The transaction is supported by a $125m private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing featuring SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, data analytics service provider Palantir, an unnamed integrated delivery network and dRx Capital, the joint venture formed by Novartis and mobile chipmaker Qualcomm.
Neuberger Berman funds, Pritzker Vlock Family Office, 5AM Ventures, Arboretum Ventures, Blue Water Science Advisors, The Eleven Fund, Forth Management, Health Innovation Capita, Jazz Venture Partners, Pilot House, Quad Investment Management, Sarissa Capital, Shanda Group, Temasek and Trustbridge Partners also backed the PIPE.
Pear has developed prescription digital therapeutics designed to treat conditions such as substance use disorder and chronic insomnia through the use of software.
The company had raised a total of $234m in funding, including $50m in a 2018 series B round led by Temasek that included Novartis, EDBI and existing investors, 5AM Ventures, Arboretum Ventures and Bridge Builders Collaborative.
Temasek also led Pear’s $64m series C round in early 2019, investing with Novartis, Arboretum Ventures, Jazz Venture Partners, Bridge Builders Collaborative, Trustbridge Partners, EDBI, Blue Water Life Science Fund and an unnamed hedge fund.
Pear completed a $100m series D round in March this year that included SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Novartis and an undisclosed healthcare system.
Temasek, EDBI, 5AM Ventures, Arboretum Ventures, Jazz Venture Partners, Forth Management, Pilot House, Sarissa Capital, Shanda Group, CrimsoNox and Quad Investment Management also contributed to the March round.
Kirthiga Reddy, partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, which manages Vision Fund 2, said: “As the lead investor of Pear’s last private financing round, we are pleased to support the company’s mission and their journey to becoming a publicly traded company.”
