On October 5, 2022 Aesther Healthcare Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ: AEHA) ("Aesther"), a special purpose acquisition company ("SPAC") and Ocean Biomedical, Inc. ("Ocean"), a next-generation biopharma company reported that Aesther has entered into two separate Backstop Agreements for a total of up to $80 million, with the addition of up to $40 million from Meteora Special Opportunity Fund I, LP, Meteora Select Trading Opportunities Master, LP, and Meteora Capital Partners, LP (collectively, "Meteora") in connection with its proposed business combination (the "Business Combination" or the "Transaction") with Ocean (Press release, Ocean Biomedical, OCT 5, 2022, View Source [SID1234622465]). Previously, Aesther had executed and announced an up to $40 million Backstop Agreement with Vellar Opportunity Fund SPV LLC-Series 3.
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Upon the closing of the Business Combination, Ocean will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Aesther, Aesther will change its name to Ocean Biomedical, Inc., and its common stock and warrants are expected to be listed on Nasdaq, under the symbols "OCEA" and "OCEAW," respectively.
The combined company will work to accelerate the development of Ocean’s core assets in oncology, fibrosis, and infectious diseases, all based on new target discoveries enabling first-in-class drug and vaccine candidates and developed through past and ongoing grants totaling $123.9 million.
Suren Ajjarapu, Chairman and CEO of Aesther, commented, "We are pleased to announce the execution of an up to $40 million Backstop Agreement with Meteora."
"Non-small cell lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death and second most diagnosed cancer in the United States. Glioblastoma multiforme is a lethal type of brain tumor that affects approximately 28,000 people in the US, with a median survival time of about 15 months. The execution of up to $80 million in Backstop Agreements will help advance our cancer, fibrosis, and malaria discoveries into their Phase 1 trials, and has the potential to alleviate suffering and save thousands of lives," said Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria, co-founder and Executive Chairman.