Nuvation Bio to Combine With Panacea, a Special Purpose Acquisition Company

San Francisco – October 28, 2020 – Cooley advised oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company Nuvation Bio on its agreement to combine with Panacea, a special purpose acquisition company or SPAC, sponsored by EcoR1 Capital. Upon closing, which is expected in Q1 2021, Panacea will be renamed Nuvation Bio, and its common stock will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the new symbol “NUVB.” Cooley partners Kenneth Guernsey, Rama Padmanabhan and John McKenna led the team advising Nuvation on the agreement. 

In addition to the approximately $144 million held in Panacea’s trust, a group of healthcare investors has committed to participate in concurrent equity financings totaling slightly more than $500 million. As such, the combined company is expected to have cash resources of more than $850 million at closing. It will continue to operate under the Nuvation Bio executive team, led by Dr. David Hung, founder and chief executive officer of Nuvation Bio. 

“Our goal is to develop new generations of oncology medicines that will meaningfully improve patient lives by addressing drug resistance or limited efficacy of current therapies, while reducing side effects and preserving quality of life for cancer patients,” Hung said in a news release. “The large financing that we will secure with this SPAC merger provides us with the capital we need to advance that goal.”

Nuvation Bio will use the proceeds of the transaction and concurrent equity financings, together with its existing cash resources, to advance into clinical development up to six compounds that have resulted from its drug discovery and development programs. Nuvation Bio anticipates submitting up to five additional investigational new drug applications by 2026.

Founded in 2018, Nuvation Bio is focused on revolutionizing cancer treatment by discovering, developing and delivering therapies that tackle some of the greatest needs in oncology. Nuvation Bio’s proprietary portfolio includes six novel and mechanistically distinct oncology therapeutic product candidates, each targeting some of the most difficult-to-treat types of cancer. The company has offices in New York and San Francisco.

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