MPM joins the historic SPAC boom as its blank check company files for an IPO
Another blank check company has filed to ride the biotech IPO wave, which shows no sign of crashing anytime soon.
Turmeric Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company formed by Boston-based MPM Capital, announced on Monday that it’s looking for a $100 million raise. It will be one of several to hit Nasdaq in a historic year for SPACs. It’s not clear which biotechs are in Tumeric’s sights — but it says it’s going after innovative companies with “new modalities”.
“For many years, drug development in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries has been dominated by two modalities: small molecules and protein biologics (such as antibodies). However, in recent years, new modalities have emerged with landmark approvals by the US FDA and the European Medicines Agency. These new modalities include cell therapies, gene therapies, and nucleic acid therapies, including RNA therapies […] We believe New Modalities have the potential to increase the rate of innovation and translation of science into transformative therapies,” Tumeric’s S-1 filing states.
Back in 2014, SPACs were 3% of the IPO market. In July, Nasdaq’s head of capital markets Jay Heller told Endpoints News they were almost 35% of all new listings. Last week, it was 5:01 Acquisition — a 5AM Ventures-backed blank check company — filing to go public, seeking an $80 million raise.
More than 50 biotechs have filed for IPOs this year, Nasdaq head of healthcare listings Jordan Saxe told Endpoints last week. On Friday, 56 biotechs had raised $11.3 billion. Saxe made a low-end estimate that there will be 65-70 biotech IPOs by the end of the year.
