Chardan Healthcare Acquisition (NYSE:CHAC), a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by affiliates of Chardan Capital Markets, closed its merger with BiomX Ltd., a microbiome company developing both natural and engineered phage therapies.
The combined company was renamed BiomX Inc. and BiomX’s current management team, led by CEO, Jonathan Solomon, will continue to run the combined company, which will trade on the NYSE American stock exchange under the symbol, PHGE.
“We are thrilled to partner with BiomX ahead of the company’s significant 2020 catalysts which, if successful, could lead to a broader market understanding of phage therapeutics as potentially disruptive and safe precision tools for the eradication of specific harmful strains of bacteria that may be causative for certain chronic conditions,” Chardan president, Jonas Grossman, said in a statement.
Existing BiomX shareholders and new investors supporting the transaction included OrbiMed, RTW Investment, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Takeda Ventures, Seventure Partners’ Health for Life Capital I, MiraeAssets, SBI Japan-Israel Innovation Fund and RM Global Partners BioPharma Investment Fund.
The financing raised through the transaction will provide BiomX with growth capital to support it pipeline, which includes phage-based products for acne-prone skin, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), primary sclerosing cholangitis and colorectal cancer. BiomX’s product for acne-prone skin recently entered clinical testing and the company’s IBD candidate is expected to enter the clinic in 2020.
