SD Biosensor Inc. made a splash in its KOSPI board debut on July 16, raising a total ₩776.4 billion (US$679.26 million). The company will now use the funds to mass-produce and promote the company’s diagnostic machines for various indications, including COVID-19.

Heartflow Holding Inc. is aiming to bring its noninvasive, artificial intelligence (AI)-based test for coronary heart disease to more doctors and patients via a merger with Longview Acquisition Corp. II. The deal, valued at an enterprise value of about $2.4 billion, is the latest in a steady stream of med techs queueing up to go public via a “blank check” special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) this year.

Healthcare Capital Corp. (HCC), a special purpose acquisition company, will combine with Alpha Tau Medical Ltd. to create a Nasdaq-listed company with an implied pro forma equity value of approximately $1 billion. Gross proceeds from the transaction, expected to close by year end 2021, are projected to total $367 million.

Hyerfine Inc. and Liminal Sciences Inc. have joined a growing field of med-tech startups that are combining with blank check companies as an alternative path for venture-backed companies to an initial public offering (IPO). On Thursday, the companies announced a three-way combination with Healthcor Catalio Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in a deal valued at approximately $580 million.

Neuro- and peripheral-vascular interventional med-tech developer Zylox-Tonbridge Medical Technology Co. Ltd. raised HK$2.56 billion (US$329 million) in Hong Kong on July 5 via an IPO that will support the development and commercialization of its core products.

PERTH, Australia – Rapid point-of-care (POC) diagnostics company Lumos Diagnostics Holdings Ltd. completed a A$63 million (US$47.44 million) initial public offering (IPO) on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on July 5. “The funds raised will support U.S. commercialization of Febridx, to build our pipeline and to expand our operations so that we have the facilities and infrastructure in place to do automated assembly and manufacturing,” Lumos Diagnostics CEO Rob Sambursky told BioWorld.

Pear Therapeutics Inc. has joined a growing number of med-tech startups that are merging with special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) as a backdoor pathway to an initial public offering (IPO). On Tuesday, Pear, a company developing digital therapeutics, reported plans to combine with Thimble Point Acquisition Corp., a blank check company affiliated with the Pritzker Vlock Family Office (PVFO), in a deal valued at approximately $1.6 billion. The $400 million in gross proceeds, including roughly $276 million in cash held in Thimble’s trust account and about $125 million, at $10 per share, from an oversubscribed PIPE (private investment in public equity), will be used to further commercialize Pear’s three FDA-authorized products, advance its pipeline and scale its end-to-end platform.

PARIS – Affluent Medical SAS aims to raise $40 million on the Euronext Paris regulated market to finalize the development of three minimally invasive prostheses in urology and interventional cardiology. The Aix-en-Provence, France-based med-tech will issue 3,387,210 new shares. Affluent has already received subscription pledges exceeding $24 million, including $12 million from funds managed by Paris-based Truffle Capital.

China saw $28.5 billion invested in its life sciences sector in 2020, which was double the previous year’s amount and sets a five-year high. Partnering activities and IPOs also grew exponentially over the last five years to set records.

Just four months after Blue Water Acquisition Corp. raised $50 million in an IPO, it set out on April 27 to merge with Clarus Therapeutics Inc., the developer of testosterone replacement therapy Jatenzo, valuing the Northbrook, Ill.-based firm at $379 million. Earlier in April, BCTG Acquisition Corp. announced plans to buy Cambridge, Mass.-based targeted precision cancer company Tango Therapeutics Inc. for $353 million, about seven months after completing its $167 million IPO. Both Clarus and Tango are seeking the public markets by merging with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, a method that is becoming increasingly popular and an alternative to the traditional IPO.