Genomic and diagnostic testing company Prenetics announced that it will merge with Artisan Acquisition Corp. and go public.
Artisan, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), will provide a business portfolio across retail, hospitality, healthcare, property and other strategic businesses for Prenetics to substantially expand its platform through the merger, according to a news release.
The transaction values Prenetics at approximately $1.25 billion, with a combined equity value of roughly $1.7 billion. The Hong Kong- and U.K.-based diagnostics company says it projects 215% revenue growth year-on-year from $65 million last year to $205 million in 2021. Its 2025 revenue projections total more than $600 million.
Prenetics most recently launched Circle HealthPod in Hong Kong, a CE-IVD point-of-care diagnostic and at-home rapid detection health monitoring system for infectious diseases, starting with COVID-19. The R&D team is developing tests for influenza and STDs as well.
Using technology developed at Oxford University, results arrive in 20 minutes on a device or smartphone. The company seeks FDA emergency use authorization for the Circle HealthPod by the first quarter of 2022.
“This announcement is a significant milestone for Prenetics and for Hong Kong entrepreneurs,” Prenetics CEO & co-founder Danny Yeung said in the release. “Our goal is to decentralize healthcare by bringing it closer to millions of patients globally.”
Added Artisan founder Adrian Cheng: “It was our core mission to seek out a high impact and high growth global company, and I am very pleased that we have found it with Prenetics.”
