10/6/22: Issue #21

Issue #21

October 06, 2022

October 6, 2022 | Issue #21

Good Evening

. That’s a wrap on Q3. To mark the occasion, this week we rebalanced our index and spent some time talking about its performance thus far. Separately, a highly-anticipated opportunity for retail longevity investors just quietly vanished. More details are below.

In this week's newsletter

:

📊 Index rebalance & Q3 update

💸 Human Longevity loses SPAC deal

🤝 The latest business & funding developments

📚 Weekend reading material

Spannr's Longevity Stock Index Gained 17.62% In Q3 2022

Earlier this year, we launched the Spannr Longevity Stock Index, the first index of its kind allowing users to comprehensively track the entire public longevity market in real-time.With one full quarter (Q3 2022; July-September) in the books, having just launched in May 2022, we now get the chance to take a step back and observe how our index of longevity stocks performed in comparison to the overall market and relatable biotech ETFs.Today we’ll also explore the best and worst performers from the previous quarter and introduce you to the newly added index constituents given our inaugural quarterly rebalance.

$1 Billion Public Listing For Human Longevity Has Been Called Off

In June, Spannr reported that San Diego-based Human Longevity had agreed to go public in a SPAC transaction at an implied valuation of $1 billion.The company was all but set to combine with the $345 million blank check company, Freedom Acquisition Corp (FACT).As we reported at the time:

"With the SPAC and biotech market facing significant headwinds in the current macroeconomic environment, we expect a non-trivial number of investors to ask to redeem their stock.

 

Although SPAC redemptions across the industry have decreased in recent months, they have been as high as 90% this year, meaning that Human Longevity could receive significantly less than the $345 million pledged by Freedom Acquisition."

Well, nearly 3 months later, it turns out that SPAC investors didn't even get the chance to vote on the merger. That's because out of left field this week, Freedom Acquisition Corp announced that they were dropping plans to merge with Human Longevity and instead merged with solar services company Solaria.So what happened? At this stage we don't have much clarity. All we have is a short interview that FACTs CEO, Tidjane Thiam, did with the Financial Times in which he stated: "We're excited about Human Longevity, but they are just not ready for listing."Thiam went on to state that he has instead launched a new fund – Free Tiger Fund – to lead Human Longevity's next round of funding.

"We have set up the Free Tiger Fund and [Human Longevity] has given us the mandate to do the next round of funding for them. They have two centers – San Diego and San Francisco – but they want to open more, so they will use that capital to open more centers"

Following the announcement, Spannr reached out to Human Longevity but the company, so far, has not responded to a request for comment.Overall, what seemed like a bright light for the public longevity market, with a $1 billion longevity pure-play company entering the scene, is now on hold.

  • Capstan Therapeutics launches with $165 million seed and Series A financings to deliver on the clinical promise of precise in vivo cell engineering, with participants from Pfizer Ventures, Leaps by Bayer, Novartis Venture Fund, Eli Lilly and Company, and Bristol Myers Squibb

  • PreComb Therapeutics, a company developing an evidence-based therapy prediction for cancer drug discovery and therapy guidance using its patented 3DTwin technology, closes 1.3 million CHF Pre-Series A Round led by LongeVC and Kinled

  • Form Bio, a spin-out from Colossal Biosciences that offers an advanced, comprehensive software platform that replaces cumbersome, code-heavy processes, enters the market with an oversubscribed $30 million Series A funding round led by JAZZ Venture Partners

  • University of California Merced Receives $3 Million Grant for New Regenerative Medicine Undergrad Program from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)

  • Healthspan Capital expresses interest in VitaDAO, as part of its Institutional Genesis Raise, with a contribution of $100,000

  • Methuselah Foundation announces the ELONgevity Protection Project to promote human anti-aging efforts and provide members diagnosed with terminal diseases access to experimental therapies

  • Rejuvenate Bio Announces Expansion of Scientific Advisory Board

  • Amylyx's ALS drug, known as Relyviro, finally receives FDA approval, becoming just the third new therapy available to American ALS patients

  • Denali Therapeutics and Biogen Announce Initiation of the Phase 3 LIGHTHOUSE Study in Parkinson’s Disease Associated with LRRK2 Pathogenic Mutations

  • Rejuve, a decentralized AI-powered longevity network, provides latest app development update

  • Lineage Cell Establishes New R&D Facility in U.S.

Performance:

Latest Price: $130.317d-Return: 7.11%Market Cap: $11.11b

Big Movers:

MyMD (MYMD): 18.11%Mesoblast (MESO): 15.44%Scholar Rock (SRRK): 14.12%