Big Cypress was Founded to bring a Local Biotech to the Public

Big Cypress Acquisition Corp. was founded by its founders with the goal of combining with a promising biotech company and putting it public. Then they had to locate it. By the time they were connected with Sioux Falls-based SAB Biotherapeutics, they had looked into dozens of biotech companies. SAB Biotherapeutics was the one that most closely met their criteria and became the focus of a process that is expected to lead to a Nasdaq listing before the end of the year.

Sam Reich, CEO, CFO and a board member of Big Cypress, the Florida-based special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, said, “SAB stood out, and we got tremendously excited right away. We believe that SAB has a one-of-a-kind platform. Totally unique.” Due to Reich’s background, he was able to spot the difference right away.

The molecular scientist invented multiple RNA treatments while earning his PhD degree at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a biotech entrepreneur from the beginning, raising venture funding from big names like Johnson & Johnson’s venture capital arm and guiding his venture-backed business through a process similar to the one he’s heading now to enable it to become a publicly traded company. That was a really satisfying deal for our stockholders and a very great conclusion for us.

After that, he made contact with a Harvard University neurology researcher who had created a revolutionary epilepsy treatment. The process of moving the possible new medicine closer to clinical trials and commercialization started over. Reich’s children were returning to school in Florida following pandemic-related homeschooling by the fall of 2020, and he was seeking for his next chance. The company’s staff was looking for a therapeutic company that had gone through safety testing but hadn’t yet reached commercialization.