DENVER & FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.– TriSalus Life Sciences® (the “Company” or “TriSalus”), a privately held oncology therapeutics company integrating immunotherapy with disruptive delivery technology to transform the treatment paradigm for patients with liver and pancreatic tumors, today announced it has entered into a definitive merger agreement with MedTech Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: MTAC) (“MedTech”), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company. Upon the closing of the transaction, the combined company will be a publicly traded company and its common stock is expected to be listed on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange under the ticker “TLSI”. The transaction represents a post-transaction market capitalization of approximately $244.4 million for TriSalus upon closing.
TriSalus’ proprietary platform approach addresses immune dysfunction in liver and pancreatic tumors by combining its highly effective drug delivery technology with immunotherapeutics. The TriSalus platform comprises:
- TriNav® Infusion System: Launched in 2020, TriNav is an FDA-cleared device that is designed to administer established and emerging therapeutics, including SD-101, the Company’s investigational TLR9 agonist, to selected sites, including tumors in the liver with the ability to treat disease throughout the entire organ. TriNav is the latest TriSalus asset for the proprietary Pressure-Enabled Drug Delivery™ (PEDD™) method of administration which has been shown to overcome intra-tumoral pressure through modulation of pressure and flow to increase delivery of therapeutic agents and improve patient outcomes.
- SD-101: TriSalus is developing SD-101, a class C toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist, that promotes T Cell infiltration, reduction of myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSC) and broad immune activation to reverse immunosuppression in the liver and pancreas. TriSalus is investigating SD-101 as a therapeutic candidate delivered by PEDD™ to enable deeper and more durable responses to other immunotherapeutics (e.g., checkpoint inhibitors) in a range of liver and pancreatic cancers for which limited therapeutic options currently exist. Thus far, across two clinical trials, over 100 infusions of SD-101 have been delivered at several dose levels as monotherapy and in combination with checkpoint inhibitors in more than 20 patients with safety data indicating treatments were well-tolerated.
“TriSalus is scaling a differentiated, integrated and disruptive approach to the treatment of tumors in the liver and pancreas, and this transaction is an important step forward in enabling better patient outcomes,” said Mary Szela, president and CEO of TriSalus. “Our commercial-stage drug delivery technology, together with the continued development of our promising immunotherapeutic, positions TriSalus to capitalize on a significant opportunity in an area with high unmet need. Partnering with MedTech accelerates our access to financial resources and brings us an experienced partner as we continue to commercialize our TriNav device and advance our SD-101 clinical programs. We look forward to working together to achieve accelerated growth and to bring hope to patients with liver and pancreatic tumors.”
“This is an exciting day for our shareholders, and we could not be more pleased to announce the signing of our merger agreement with TriSalus,” said Chris Dewey, CEO of MedTech. “With multiple value inflection points anticipated over the next 18 months, we believe that TriSalus’ first-of-its-kind technology and deep expertise in immuno-oncology, coupled with our team’s success in commercializing medical device companies, will create significant value in the years ahead.”
