Diagnostic Company LumiraDX Goes Public In $5Bn SPAC Merger
Source : Medtech Insight
Diagnostic company LumiraDX announced it will merge with blank check company CA Healthcare Acquisition Corp. in a deal that is valued at $5bn.
The deal, announced on 7 April, is the largest health care special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal of the past year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
LumiraDX has developed a diagnostic testing platform that can process more than 30 types of tests – including tests for COVID-19 – in less than 12 minutes at the point of care.
The UK-based company has raised $700m from backers including Morningside Ventures, US Boston Capital Corp., the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Petrichor Healthcare Capital Management and other strategic partners, the company said.
LumiraDX estimates it will achieve revenue of $600m to $1bn in 2021, up from $139m in 2020. The company also said it secured two new financing commitments totaling $400m – BioPharma Credit PLC and its subsidiaries provided a $300m loan to LumiraDX and Capital One, National Association committed $100m on an asset-based revolving credit facility.
“The new public recognition will solidify our already growing presence in the point of care testing market,” said LumiraDX CEO Ron Zwanziger, who will lead the combined company. “COVID-19 has demonstrated how important it is to have rapid and highly accurate diagnostic tests, at mass scale, and available everywhere. It has validated the performance of our platform and enabled us to partner with governments, health systems, retail chains and other customers to expand testing across community care settings both in high and low-and middle-income countries.”
“COVID-19 has demonstrated how important it is to have rapid and highly accurate diagnostic tests, at mass scale, and available everywhere. It has validated the performance of our platform and enabled us to partner with governments, health systems, retail chains and other customers to expand testing across community care settings both in high and low-and middle-income countries.” – Ron Zwanziger
Current LumiraDX shareholders will retain the entirety of their existing holdings in the combined company. The additional capital from the CA Healthcare Acquisition will support rising production, continued R&D activities and commercial and manufacturing expansion, the firm said.
Shares of the new company are expected to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol LMDX.
SPAC's hunt for innovative companies continues.()
In March, CM Life Sciences II, a SPAC focused on life sciences, signed a deal to merge with Boulder, CO-based SomaLogic. The deal is estimated to be worth around $1.25bn. ()
By Marion Webb