Medera, a cardiovascular pharmaceutical company, is going public through a reverse merger, valuing it at over $600 million.

Zhitong Finance learned that Medera Inc., a cardiovascular disease treatment drug development company, has reached an agreement with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Keen Vision Acquisition Corp. (KVAC.US) to merge and go public on the Nasdaq. The deal values Medera at $622.6 million, according to the two companies. The total cash proceeds from the deal, before shareholder redemptions, are estimated to be about $149.5 million, from the SPAC's trust account. The deal has been unanimously approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter.

Medera founder and CEO Ronald Li said the company decided to go through a SPAC rather than an initial public offering (IPO) because it offered the fastest path to the capital market. "We both had options. It was important to develop our clinical assets to serve a large population," Li said in an interview.

Through its Sardocor and Novoheart units, Medera focuses on combining bio-engineered human technology with a range of next-generation gene and cell-based methods to eradicate hard-to-treat cardiovascular diseases.

Li said the company's "micro human heart" technology allows it to test therapies using human heart tissue manufactured in the lab, which is more accurate and less controversial than animal testing. Medera has three gene-based therapies in clinical trials, Li said. The company developed the technology with AstraZeneca (AZN.US), the National Heart Centre of Singapore and other institutions.

Kenneth KC Wong, chairman and CEO of Keen Vision Acquisition, said he looked at other opportunities before deciding Medera might be a good target. "Medera is very unique in its positioning because it has both clinical and a technology platform," Wong said.

Last year, Keen Vision raised about $150 million through an IPO, including the over-allotment. Data shows that SPACs raised $3.4 billion in IPOs on U.S. exchanges in 2023, the lowest since 2014, after peaking at more than $162 billion in 2021. Data also shows that SPAC merger transactions have fallen to about $6 billion this year, down from a peak in 2021. The financing size of SPACs has slightly rebounded, with IPOs reaching $5 billion since Jan. 1.