Correspondence 0001493152-23-025877 from CDT Equity Inc. (CDT)
CDT Equity Inc.
Date: July 28, 2023 · CIK: 0001896212 · Accession: 0001493152-23-025877
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-271903
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CORRESP
1
filename1.htm
Murphy
Canyon Acquisition Corp.
4995
Murphy Canyon Road, Suite 300
San
Diego, CA 92123
July
28, 2023
U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission
Division
of Corporation Finance
Office
of Manufacturing
100
F Street, NE
Washington,
D.C. 20549
Attn:
Tyler Howes and Laura Crotty
Re:
Murphy
Canyon Acquisition Corp.
Amendment
No. 1 to Registration Statement on Form S-4
Filed
July 11, 2023
File
No. 333-271903
Dear
Mr. Howes and Ms. Crotty,
On
behalf of Murphy Canyon Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”), this letter responds to comments provided by the staff
of the Division of Corporation Finance (the “Staff”), of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”)
to the undersigned on July 20, 2023, regarding the Company’s Amendment No. 1 to Registration Statement on Form S-4 (the “Registration
Statement”) filed with the Commission on July 11, 2023. Changes made in response to the Staff’s comments have been made
in our amendment to the Registration Statement (the “Amended Registration Statement”), which is being filed with the
Commission contemporaneously with the submission of this letter.
For
convenience, the Staff’s comments have been restated below and the Company’s responses are set out immediately under the
restated comments. Unless otherwise indicated, defined terms used herein have the meanings set forth in the Registration Statement.
Amendment
No. 1 to Registration Statement on Form S-4
Questions
and Answers about the Business Combination and Proposals
Q.
How is the payment of the deferred underwriting commissions..., page 11
1.
We
note that the chart on this page shows the total deferred underwriting commission at the 100% redemption scenario is equal to 1%
of the cash left in the trust account following redemptions. We also note that footnote (1) to this chart states that you will not
have enough cash in your trust account to pay the full deferred underwriting commission due in the 100% redemption scenario. Please
reconcile.
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and has corrected the typographical error so as to clearly reference footnote
1 within the chart.
Opinion
of ValueScope
ValueScope,
page 59
2.
We
note you have reinstated the statement on page 59 that ValueScope’s reports and opinions “have been reviewed by the SEC,
Internal Revenue Service and United States Department of Justice”. Therefore, we reissue comment 20 of our March 1, 2023, comment
letter, and ask that such statement be removed as it implies approval of such reports and opinions by the named agencies, which is
not the case.
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and has removed the statement on page 59.
Comparable
Public Companies Selected for Beta Analysis, page 63
3.
We
note your response to prior comment 6 and reissue in part. Please revise to explain how ValueScope considered any differences in
the size and current scale of operations in their analysis. For example, clearly disclose that ValueScope included a 1.21% small
stock risk premium to Conduit’s cost of equity, as you have done in your response. Please also discuss here, or wherever appropriate,
how the board considered these factors when reviewing the fairness opinion provided by ValueScope and in approving the business combination.
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and has revised the discussion on pages 63-64 as requested.
Opinion
of ValueScope, Inc.
Sum
of the Parts DCF Analysis, page 65
4.
We
note that you have updated the Probability of Success by Stage for Therapeutic Areas and the Sum of the part DCF Analysis, which
resulted in an updated total value of clinical assets to be $851.6 million. Please explain to us the underlying drivers for the changes
you made to these tables comparing to your previous valuation report. In your response, please specifically address changes for Hashimoto’s
Thyroiditis, and others with a significant increase in value. Additionally, please help us understand whether and how your sum of
the parts DCF analysis considered the research and development costs associated for these therapeutic areas.
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and respectfully advises that the changes to the Probability of Success assumptions
were to Covid-19, Idiopathic Male Infertility, IPF, and NASH.
● Covid-19:
Probability of Success was reduced from 61% to 29%. Based on conversations with Management,
ValueScope understands that the Covid-19 therapeutic had not completed their Phase 2 requirements.
As such, the probability was reduced to account for the uncertainty of Phase 2 not succeeding.
● Idiopathic
Male Infertility: Therapeutic category was changed from Urology to Endocrine resulting
in a minor change to the probability. Base case probability of Phase 2 success increased
from 36% to 42%, Phase 3 success decreased from 68% to 66%, and approval increased from 84%
to 85%. This resulted in total PoS increasing from 20% to 23%.
● IPF:
Has completed Phase 1 and is moved to Phase 2, based on information provided by Conduit’s
management.
● NASH:
Has completed Phase 1 and is moved to Phase 2, based on information provided by Conduit’s
management.
In
the updated fairness opinion, ValueScope further researched the product pipelines to forecast the peak market share achieved by each
therapeutic based on its projected entry to the market.
ValueScope
analyzed SpringerNature data via Bloomberg LP to determine the estimated number of therapeutics available prior to the Conduit therapeutic
entering the market. The following table details the therapeutics being researched and their current stage:
ValueScope
then compared these estimates to the Conduit therapeutic to estimate the base-case Conduit entry to the market. The following table details
the estimated therapeutic’s entry to the market (e.g. a 1 in the base case column indicates its forecast to be the first therapeutic
entry in the market):
ValueScope’s
market share forecasts were based on a review of McKinsey & Company’s study “Pharma’s first-to-market advantage”,
Nature Review’s article “Forecasting market share in the US pharmaceutical market”, multiple discussions with Conduit’s
management, and ValueScope’s experience. Based on this, ValueScope set a 23% ceiling for first to market therapeutics and a 2%
floor for later arriving therapeutics. Both Conduit and Murphy Canyon believe the selected peak market share estimates are reasonable
estimates for the indicated therapeutics.
With
regards to Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, the therapeutic is currently being tested on lungs, however, Conduit’s management believes
that if the therapeutic is successful on lungs it will almost certainly be successful on other organs. ValueScope reviewed an article
from Future Market Insights addressing market size which estimated the market to be $7.4 billion in 2022 (“Hasihmoto’s Thyroiditis
Therapeutics Market”, Future Market Insights. This is a significant increase from than original forecast but is believed to better
represent the opportunity for this therapeutic. Additionally, as the previous chart indicates, this form of treatment for Hashimoto’s
Thyroiditis is expected to be the first to market, resulting in a significantly larger market share than previously forecast.
Other
therapeutics that had a significant change in value from prior analysis:
● Covid-19:
Decrease in value was primarily driven by lower probability of success discussed above as
well as a revised market size to better reflect the therapeutic’s target market.
● Idiopathic
Male Infertility: Decrease in value was driven by lower projected peak market share as a
result of being projected as 8th to market, decreasing peak market share from
10.0% to 2.0%.
● Sarcoidosis:
Increase in value was driven by higher projected peak market share as a result of being projected
as 3rd to market, increasing peak market share from 1.0% to 10.0%.
● IPF
and NASH: Increase in value primarily driven by higher probability of success as discussed
above.
ValueScope’s
research and development costs are directly forecast by Conduit’s management and third-party studies for each therapeutic in the
projected income statements. The expenses are forecast in the “Development Costs” line item.
The
Business Combination Proposal
Background
of the Business Combination, page 72
5.
Please
revise your disclosure to further discuss the factors that resulted in Conduit’s valuation increasing to $779,000,000, namely
how the de-prioritization of funding and development of AZD1656 for Covid-19 impacted the valuation and the developments in the therapeutics
areas of interest to Conduit that resulted in the increase.
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and has revised the disclosure on page 75 as requested.
Unaudited
Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Information, page 94
6.
Please
revise the tables appearing on pages 97 and 98 to separately present the Private Placement Investor’s shares.
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and has revised the disclosure on pages 97 and 98 as requested.
Our
Strategy, page 146
7.
We
note your response to our prior comment 17. We also note that your disclosure throughout the Business section continues to assert
your plans to out-license your product candidates “following successful clinical trials.” Please revise your disclosure
to make clear that there is no guarantee that clinical trials will be successful and that you may not be successful in finding third
party partners to license your clinical assets to.
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and has updated the disclosure throughout the Business section in response
to the Staff’s comment.
Our
Initial Pipeline: AZD1656 and AZD5904, page 150
8.
Please
revise the table titled “Current Asset Development Stage” to include columns for Phase II and Phase III so that it is
clear to investors what development stages still need to be completed prior to commercialization. Although we note Conduit’s
business strategy is only to develop assets to Phase II, the table should provide a complete picture of the stages remaining prior
to commercialization.
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and has revised the disclosure on page 150.
AZ1656
in Autoimmune Diseases, page 151
9.
Please
remove your statement implying that AZD1656 may be able to help maintain a pregnancy for longer, reduce the number of babies that
are born prematurely and reduce the costs associated with preterm labor as this statement appears premature given the current development
status. Alternatively, please provide support for this statement.
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and has revised the disclosure on page 151.
Annex
D, page D-1
10.
Please
revise to include the fairness opinion dated November 4, 2022, as well as the opinion dated June 26, 2023.
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and has added the November 4, 2022 fairness opinion to Annex D as requested.
General
11.
We
note you have removed all disclosure related to unaudited Conduit projections from the prospectus. Please confirm that these projections
were not considered by the board in approving the transaction. In the event the projections were considered, please reinstate this
disclosure and revise to respond to our prior comment 7.
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and confirms that those projections were not considered by the board in approving
the transaction.
Should
you have any questions regarding the foregoing, please do not hesitate to contact our counsel Avital Perlman of Sichenzia Ross Ference
LLP at (212) 930-9700.
Sincerely,
Jack
K. Heilbron
Chief
Executive Officer
cc:
Avital
Perlman, Esq.