Benzinga | Jun 29, 2021 03:07PM EDT

Gilead, Foresite Take Pardes Biosciences Public In $250M SPAC Deal

* Pardes Biosciences Inc, an early-stage biopharmaceutical company, and FS Development Corp. II (NASDAQ:FSII), a Foresite Capital sponsored SPAC, entered into a definitive merger agreement.

* Pardes Biosciences was founded at the beginning of 2020 by Uri Lopatin, a former Gilead executive who co-founded and served as CMO of Assembly Biosciences.

* Despite the thin online presence, Foresite is giving Pardes the $175 million they raised for the SPAC, plus another $75 million in private funding from Gilead Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:GILD), RA Capital Management, and Frazier Life Sciences.

* The company anticipates initiating clinical trials later this year and plans to study PBI-0451 for prophylaxis and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infections.

* The U.S. recently announced a $3.2 billion program to accelerate the development of antivirals for future pandemics. And Pardes' lead program, PBI-0451, is an oral antiviral drug candidate designed to inhibit an essential viral protein causing COVID-19.

* Price Action: FSII shares are up 0.62% at $9.94 during the market session on the last check Tuesday.