By Colin Kellaher

Gemini Therapeutics Inc. on Wednesday said it agreed to merge with privately held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Disc Medicine Inc. in a stock swap that would result in Disc shareholders owning more than 70% of the combined company.

Gemini said the combined company, which would focus on advancing Disc's pipeline of hematology programs, would operate under Disc's name and trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol IRON.

Gemini said the combined company would have about $175 million in cash or equivalents at closing, including roughly $53.5 million from a concurrent financing with Disc's current investors, which it said would provide funding into 2025.

Gemini said its shareholders would own about 28% of the combined company, while Disc's shareholders will own about 72%, before giving effect to the financing.

A reverse merger allows a private company to go public by merging with a public one at much less cost than is involved in traditional initial public offerings.

Gemini, a Cambridge, Mass., clinical-stage precision medicine company with a market capitalization of about $68 million, earlier this year cut the bulk of its workforce and launched a review of strategic alternatives.

Trading in shares of Gemini, which closed Tuesday at $1.56, was halted premarket on Wednesday.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

$(END)$ Dow Jones Newswires

August 10, 2022 07:53 ET (11:53 GMT)

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