Varian Bio goes public via SPAC deal

US private, precision oncology company Varian Biopharmaceuticals, which is developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, and SPK Acquisition Corp (SPK) (Nasdaq: SPK), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), today announced it has entered into a definitive merger agreement for a business combination that will result in Varian Bio becoming a publicly-traded company.

Varian Bio is developing a high-potency, specific atypical protein kinase C iota (aPKCi) inhibitor that has the potential to be best-in-class as a treatment for various oncology indications with an initial focus on basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and molecularly targeted solid tumors.

Varian Bio is developing rationally designed aPKCi small molecule inhibitor candidate that has been optimized for potency, selectivity and tolerability. aPKCi has been implicated as an oncogene in a number of human cancers, including BCC, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), colorectal cancer, and pancreatic cancer, among others. aPKCi has also been demonstrated to have a role in allowing the immune system to recognize tumors, recruit immune cells into the area, and ramp up the anti-tumor response to kill cancer cells in the lab by shrinking their tumors.