On December 20, 2021 Senti Biosciences, Inc. ("Senti Bio"), a leading Gene Circuit company, and Dynamics Special Purpose Corp. (Nasdaq: DYNS) ("Dynamics"), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) led by Omid Farokhzad, MD, Executive Chair of the Board of Directors, and Mostafa Ronaghi, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, reported they have entered into a definitive business combination agreement to create a public company focused on Gene Circuit-engineered cell and gene therapies (Press release, Senti Biosciences, DEC 20, 2021, View Source [SID1234597470]). Upon closing of the transaction, the combined company will be named Senti Biosciences, Inc. ("the Company") and will be led by Tim Lu, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Senti Bio. The Company plans to list its common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market. Dr. Farokhzad, who is currently serving as CEO and Chair of Seer, and David Epstein, Dynamics board member and former CEO of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, will be joining the Senti Bio Board of Directors upon closing of the transaction.
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Senti Bio uses its Gene Circuit platform to program cell and gene therapies with potentially enhanced capabilities. Gene Circuits, which are created via synthetic biology and encoded as novel and proprietary combinations of DNA sequences, enable cells to sense inputs, compute decisions with biological logic, and respond to disease environments.
"Humans have always sought medicines that can treat illnesses with more precision, efficacy, and safety. However, existing drugs are still unable to match the complexity of many diseases, such as cancer and beyond. With recent advances in synthetic biology, computation, and massive biological data generation, I believe that we have a unique opportunity to engineer intelligent cell and gene therapies that directly tackle the heterogeneity and dynamic nature of disease, which have the potential to fundamentally transform our therapeutic arsenal," said Dr. Lu. "We’re tremendously grateful for the strong support from our new and current world-class investors and from the experienced entrepreneurs, executives, and scientists at Dynamics. This fuel will amplify our team’s vision and efforts to drive Gene Circuit-engineered cell and gene therapies to patients."
"Dynamics is looking forward to partnering with Senti to power the next generation of disruptive cell and gene therapies," said Dr. Farokhzad. "The foundational technology of Senti—engineering Gene Circuits with programmable computer-like logic in cells—has game-changing implications for treating a variety of cancers, as well as potential applications beyond oncology. We believe that Senti’s pipeline of product candidates offers the potential to greatly enhance cancer therapy for both solid and liquid tumors, while reducing well-known limitations of current therapies. The Dynamics team, board, and advisors are thrilled to work with the Senti team as they define the future of potentially life-changing therapeutics for patients."
Senti Bio Pipeline and Collaborations
Senti Bio’s internal therapeutic pipeline is focused on allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor natural killer (CAR-NK) cell therapies for cancer. The Company’s lead development candidates include SENTI-202 for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and SENTI-301 for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); Senti Bio anticipates filing Investigational New Drug (IND) applications in 2023 for both candidates.
SENTI-202 is designed to prevent the killing of healthy cells by leveraging a NOT logic gate, while concurrently targeting two tumor-associated antigens for enhanced AML killing by leveraging an OR logic gate, thus overcoming the limitations of other cell therapy approaches to treating AML
SENTI-301 is designed to target an HCC-specific antigen while leveraging multi-armed, controlled cytokine release for enhanced anti-cancer activity, thus overcoming the limitations of other cell therapy approaches to treating HCC
Senti Bio has established collaborations with biopharmaceutical companies that demonstrate the broad potential of Gene Circuits in other therapeutic areas and treatment modalities.
Spark Therapeutics, a member of the Roche Group (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY), and Senti Bio are developing next-generation gene therapies with Gene Circuits that have the potential to improve precise targeting of the central nervous system, eye, and/or liver
BlueRock Therapeutics, a wholly-owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG, and Senti Bio are developing Gene Circuit-engineered cell therapies for a potentially broad array of therapeutic areas within the field of regenerative medicine
Planned Milestones and Uses of Proceeds
Proceeds from the PIPE and merger transaction are expected to provide Senti Bio with capital to further develop its Gene Circuit technologies and therapeutic pipeline, including:
Filing an IND, anticipated in 2023, for SENTI-202, a logic-gated allogeneic CAR-NK cell therapy being designed to target and eliminate AML cells while sparing the healthy bone marrow;
Filing an IND, anticipated in 2023, for SENTI-301, a multi-armed allogeneic CAR-NK cell therapy being developed for the treatment of HCC;
Continuing to expand the breadth of Senti Bio’s Gene Circuit technologies across multiple diseases and modalities to uniquely enable therapeutics previously not possible, including advancing its gene circuit platform with additional programs, such as SENTI-401, a logic-gated allogeneic CAR-NK cell therapy that is being designed to more precisely target and eliminate colorectal cancer, or CRC, cells while sparing healthy cells elsewhere in the body; and
Building out and operating clinical-scale cGMP manufacturing capabilities for allogeneic CAR-NK cell therapies.
Summary of Transaction
The transaction values the combined company at a pro forma equity value of $601 million, assuming a $10.00 per share price and no shareholder redemptions. As a result of the transaction, the combined company is expected to have more than $296 million in gross proceeds from a combination of approximately $230.0 million in cash held in Dynamics’ trust account (assuming no Dynamics shareholders exercise their redemption rights at closing) and more than $66 million, at $10.00 per share, from a fully committed PIPE.
Existing Dynamics shareholders, including funds managed by ARK Investment Management LLC, funds and accounts managed by Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley Investment Management), Invus, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., have, in the aggregate, committed not to redeem over $86 million of Dynamics’ publicly traded shares in exchange for receiving approximately 965,000 newly issued shares of common stock, attributable to an equal number of shares currently owned by Dynamics Sponsor LLC, the sponsor of Dynamics, that will be contemporaneously surrendered to the combined company.
The PIPE includes participation from healthcare and technology investors, including 8VC, Amgen Ventures, funds and accounts managed by Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley Investment Management), Invus, LifeForce Capital, NEA, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and others.
All existing Senti Bio equity holders will roll the entirety of their equity holdings into the combined company and are expected to hold approximately 40% of the issued and outstanding equity of the combined company immediately following the closing (assuming no Dynamics shareholders exercise their redemption rights at closing). Certain existing Senti Bio equity holders and Dynamics Sponsor LLC will be subject to a twelve month lock-up, subject to certain customary exceptions. Certain existing Senti Bio equity holders will be subject to an eighteen month lock-up, subject to certain additional exceptions that may reduce it to twelve months.
The transaction, which has been approved by each of Dynamics’ Board of Directors and Senti Bio’s Board of Directors, is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2022, subject to approval by Dynamics’ and Senti Bio’s shareholders and satisfaction, or the waiver of, customary closing conditions identified in the business combination agreement.
J.P. Morgan is acting as lead capital markets advisor to Dynamics and co-placement agent for the PIPE. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC is acting as financial advisor to Dynamics and co-placement agent to Dynamics for the PIPE. BofA Securities is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Senti Bio and as co-placement agent for the PIPE.
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is serving as legal advisor to Dynamics. Goodwin Procter LLP is serving as legal advisor to Senti Bio, and Latham & Watkins LLP is serving as legal advisor to J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and BofA Securities in their role as placement agents.
A prerecorded presentation and associated materials will be available on Deal Roadshow after 9:00 AM ET on December 20, 2021