Greenlight Biosciences, an RNA Firm is Going Public in a $1.5 Billion Deal
Greenlight Biosciences, an RNA tech firm is driving towards improving the availability of mRNA vaccines. The company has also been producing RNA-based pesticides as an alternative. The company wants to be capable of mass production of mRNA vaccines, as well as substances based on RNA that can be used to eliminate certain pests and bee colonies.
Greenlight isn’t going about the deal alone either; the company is working with an acquisition company that specializes in special occasions. Green light’s valuation is about $1.5 billion, according to the companies.
Greenlight Biosciences
Greenlight Biosciences was founded in 2008 and is a synthetic biology company based in Massachusetts. The firm aims to maximize the potential of recent technological breakthroughs in RNA research. RNA is an acid found in living cells and can be encoded to pass instructions to cells in the body.
Greenlight’s CEO Andrey Zarur hopes clinical tests of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine can commence early next year in Africa. The biotechnology firm is driving towards producing mRNA shots to fight seasonal flu. They are also driving at making an mRNA shot to fight sickle-cell disease.
The company is a maker of mRNA vaccines that are used to treat Covid-19 and other infections. In addition to making RNA-based vaccines, the company also works on, and produces viable alternatives to herbicides and pesticides. Greenlight hopes to eliminate the obstacles involved in the mass production of vaccines and other RNA products by reproducing the growth of cells without using actual live cells.
The Deal
Greenlight Biosciences is projected to rake in about $280 million cash from the SPAC deal, and also $105 million private investment in public equity PIPE. The Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust, and BNP Paribas, a climate-focused fund are both PIPE investors in the deal. The Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust is a charity that was created by Grantham May, Van Otterloo& Co., along with his spouse.
Co-founder and chief executive of Greenlight Biosciences, Andrey Zarur will continue to lead the company after the deal, and he will have the support of the company’s management team. The company’s CEO is a big fan of the deal, and he thinks it will help his firm to hasten its vision of producing solutions where they are required. He and his company also hold dear the belief that widely available and affordable RNA is key to creating a sustainable planet.
By opting to go public via a SPAC deal, rather than a conventional public offer, Greenlight hopes to achieve a faster and cheaper deal while retaining control of the entire process to hasten its commercialization drive.
The deal’s environmental impact is backed by Canaccord Genuity, an investment bank. The entire backing and entity is projected to be worth about $1.2 billion at the time of the deal’s completion. The bank believes Greenlight is a compelling partner to help the bank deliver its environmental and social impact, hence the backing.
