Taiwan-based biotech venture capital firm Maxpro Capital (Maxpro) announced on 10 March that Maxpro Capital, a SPAC company which went public in 2021, led in a US$21 million private equity transaction (PIPE) to complete a merger with US-based biotech firm Apollomics Inc. in late March.
After the merger, Apollomics Inc. was listed on Nasdaq under "APLM" (common shares) and "APLMW" (warrants), completing the SPAC listing process in the US from scratch. As at 9 April, Apollomics was approximately valued at US$1.058 billion (approximately NTD32.16 billion).
SPACs are a fast-track fundraising pathway for start-ups in the US capital markets, allowing them to seek funding first, then find a bid for a merger or acquisition, and then list the company after the merger or acquisition is completed. This is why SPACs are known as "blank check companies".
However, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, there is a two-year statute of limitations on this route, and SPACs must find a target company to merge with and complete the process within 12 to 24 months of listing; if unsuccessful, the company must pay a significant extension fee, or dissolve if a majority of shareholders do not agree to the extension.
The total value of Apollomics after completion of the merger is US$923 million (approximately NT$28.1 billion). The company has nine product lines ranging from early stage to clinical phase III, including new drugs such as small molecule targets and biologics, with six drugs already in clinical trials.
Vebreltinib (APL-101), the most advanced small molecule target drug, has completed Phase II clinical trials with the US FDA for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and various solid tumours caused by c-MET dysregulation and has been granted Orphan Drug Status. The drug is expected to be available in the US after 2023 through Accelerated Approval.
A Chinese licensee based in Beijing has already obtained priority approval status in Mainland China in September last year (2022) and is expected to file NDA this year.
The other major product licensed for development in China, uproleselan (APL-106), has been granted Breakthrough Therapy status and is currently in Phase III clinical trials for acute leukaemia (AML) in China, while the Phase III trials of US licensee Glycomimetics are also nearing completion.
Following the success of Apollomics, Maxpro's founder and CEO, Hong-Jung (Moses) Chen, said that the company is also currently raising funds at Immunwork, Inc., which was founded by Dr. Tse-Wen Chang. With a track record of developing several new anti-body drugs and a successful Nasdaq listing and licensing experience, Immunwork has a number of new drugs with significant market potential and is one of the next benchmark cases for biotech investment in China.
