MinterEllison has advised on a transaction that has seen Ena Respiratory Pty Ltd obtain an investment towards a nasal spray that could assist in the treatment of COVID-19.
Firm: MinterEllison (Ena Respiratory Pty Ltd).
Value: $32 million.
Area: Finance.
Key players: The MinterEllison team was led by partner James Hutton with assistance from Nicole Reid, Alexander Persano and Josh Carfi.
Deal significance: Ena Respiratory Pty Ltd is an investee company of the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund managed by Brandon Capital.
The transaction saw the company’s demerger and transformative funding round for the development of its INNA-051 spray, which is soon to commence human studies, and could be used to treat several respiratory viruses, including COVID-19, according to a statement provided by MinterEllison.
“Ena Respiratory received $32 million in funding from The Minderoo Foundation, Brandon Capital and Uniseed to help with this research. MinterEllison acted for Ena throughout these transactions. The team also provided specialist corporate structuring and intellectual property advice throughout the new investment process,” the firm explained.
Commenting further, partner Mr Hutton said: “We’re delighted to support Ena Respiratory through this transformation as it researches and develops medical products that could have an enormous impact on the community’s health and wellbeing.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has, more than ever, highlighted the critical role of medical research and life sciences in our community. We’re proud to assist the team at Ena Respiratory through a range of complex transactions to help support their important work.”