NEW YORK – Cardio Diagnostics announced on Tuesday that it has inked a deal to go public by merging with special purpose acquisition company Mana Capital Acquisition.
Upon closing of the deal, the combined company will be named Cardio Diagnostics Holdings and will be listed on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol CDIO. The combined firm is expected to have a post-transaction equity market capitalization of $175 million, and Cardio Diagnostics expects to have about $10 million in gross proceeds raised in 2022 from common stock equity investors before closing, the firm said in a statement.
The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022.
Cardio Diagnostics' existing cash on its balance sheet will be used to fund the combined company's operations until the end of 2023. That cash, in addition to the funds raised through the merger, will be used to develop blood-based and saliva-based tests for stroke, congestive heart failure, and diabetes, and further build out clinical and health economics evidence to gain reimbursement from insurers.
The funds will also be used to expand its testing to multiple labs, introduce the Epi+Gen CHD test to health systems and self-insured employers, and pursue acquisition of labs or synergistic companies in the telemedicine, artificial intelligence, or remote patient monitoring space, it said. The Chicago-based company's blood-based Epi+Gen CHD test, which assesses a patient's three-year risk for coronary heart disease by profiling a panel of genetic and epigenetic biomarkers, is currently offered via telemedicine.
"Cardio Diagnostics is the first company to develop and commercialize epigenetics-based clinical tests for cardiovascular disease that have clear value for patients, clinicians, hospitals [and] health systems, and payors," Mana CEO Jonathan Intrater said in a statement. "We believe this business combination will allow a well-capitalized platform to grow through market expansion, new product development, as well as select and accretive acquisitions."
Cardio Diagnostics founders Meesha Dogan and Rob Philibert will remain with the combined firm as CEO and chief medical officer, respectively.