Oct. 25, 2021

Sioux Falls-based SAB Biotherapeutics officially is a publicly traded company.

The biopharmaceutical company has finalized its business combination with Big Cypress Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, which allows the combined company to trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol “SABS” and “SABSW” beginning today.

“We are excited to enter the public markets at such a pivotal time when next-generation immunotherapies like ours are essential in driving improvement in the global health landscape. We extend our gratitude to the Big Cypress team for being our partner in driving our vision of developing scalable and highly potent polyclonal antibody therapies,” Eddie Sullivan, SAB’s co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. “We would also like to thank the SAB team, as well as our new and existing shareholders, who are making our important work possible. The SAB team is committed to progressing our science and expanding the reach of our unique DiversitAb platform, now as a public company.”

The stockholders of Big Cypress approved the transaction at a special meeting last week. The deal previously was approved by SAB’s shareholders. SAB’s management team will be led by Sullivan, who previously served as president and CEO. Samuel Reich, formerly CEO and CFO of Big Cypress, and Jeffrey Spragens, Big Cypress’ chairman of the board of directors, will join the SAB board of directors, with Reich assuming the role of executive chairman.

SAB has developed a novel immunotherapy platform that produces specifically targeted, high-potency, fully human polyclonal antibodies without the need for human donors.

Its growth has accelerated since 2020, with development of a novel therapeutic for COVID-19 entering the final stages of clinical trials as well as one for seasonal influenza.

“We look forward to reporting clinical data from a number of our programs in the coming months,” Sullivan said. “SAB expects to announce top-line clinical data for our seasonal influenza program before the end of the year, and we expect to report clinical data from our NIH-sponsored COVID-19 clinical trials as soon as it becomes available. “

Big Cypress considered working with a large number of innovative bioscience companies before deciding on SAB.

“SAB’s innovative and versatile DiversitAb platform and talented team bring a unique approach to the development of immunotherapies, which is why we chose them as our merger partner,” Reich said.

“Our experienced biopharmaceutical team was initially impressed by the ability of SAB’s platform to produce high-potency fully human polyclonal antibodies with the potential to address a variety of serious diseases with high unmet medical need. In the few months since we announced our intention to merge, SAB has achieved multiple significant milestones, reinforcing our confidence in their ability to execute and deliver on the promise of their technology. I’m delighted to be joining the SAB team to advance the company’s clinical programs and business strategy, with the goal of building a differentiated biopharmaceutical company committed to creating shareholder value and having a significant positive impact on human health.”

The gross proceeds from the transaction after redemptions and before deducting transaction fees are approximately $30 million.  SAB intends to use the money to progress its pipeline programs and to augment its recent $60.5 million award from the government, in addition to approximately $27 million remaining from previous awards, the company said in a statement.

Behind the scenes of a deal that could catapult this local biotech company to big things