Science 37, a US-based clinical trials technology provider backed by corporates Sanofi, Amgen, Alphabet, Novartis and PPD, agreed on Friday to a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company LifeSci Acquisition II Corp.
The transaction will involve the Science 37 taking the position on the Nasdaq Capital Market, taken by LifeSci Acquisition II Corp in a $75m initial public offering in November 2020. It will give Science 37 an initial enterprise value of about $1.05bn.
Science 37’s technology helps run clinical trials for developmental stage therapeutics and medical devices, helping bridge the gap between laboratory research and patient care.
David Coman, Science 37’s CEO, said: “Our clinical trial operating system (OS) can enable significantly faster enrolment, retain patients at a meaningfully higher rate and achieve higher enrolment among diverse patient populations.
“With this investment, we expect to advance our OS to further penetrate adjacent markets, and power the future of clinical research where we bridge between the traditional and decentralised approaches to enable a truly agile clinical trial.”
PPD co-led a $40m round for the company in August 2020 with Lux Capital and Redmile Group, pushing its overall funding to $141m.
The round included pharmaceutical firms Sanofi (through subsidiary Sanofi Ventures), Novartis and Amgen as well as GV, a subsidiary of internet and technology group Alphabet, in addition to Mubadala Ventures, Glynn Capital and LifeSci Ventures.
Science 37 had secured $35m in an early 2019 series D round led by PPD and backed by GV and DRx Capital, a joint venture for Novartis and mobile semiconductor producer Qualcomm, in addition to Redmile Group, Lux Capital and Glynn Capital.
The company had received $29m in an April 2019 series C round led by Glynn Capital Management that included DRx Capital, GV, Sanofi Ventures, Amgen unit Amgen Ventures, Lux Capital and Redmile Group.
Redmile Group led Science 37’s $31m series B round the previous year, investing with Sanofi Ventures predecessor Sanofi Genzyme BioVentures, DRx Capital and Lux Capital. It came after DRx Capital and Lux Capital co-led its $6.5m seed round in 2015.
