Harbour BioMed Acquires Common Stock in Spruce Biosciences, Deepening Strategic Collaboration

Rhea-AI Summary

Harbour BioMed exercised a warrant to acquire common stock in Spruce Biosciences (Nasdaq: SPRB), resulting in Harbour BioMed holding approximately 3.8% of Spruce's outstanding shares and approximately 3.1% of Spruce's fully diluted shares as of Sept 30, 2025. The warrant was issued in connection with a license and collaboration between HBM Alpha Therapeutics and Spruce to advance SPR202, an anti‑corticotropin‑releasing hormone monoclonal antibody for disorders including congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Harbour BioMed framed the exercise as a move to deepen a strategic partnership beyond a licensor‑licensee relationship to align development incentives.

Positive

• Stake established: Harbour BioMed acquired ~3.8% of Spruce outstanding shares
• Strategic alignment: Warrant exercise ties Harbour BioMed and Spruce on SPR202 development

Negative

• Minority position: 3.8% stake is non‑controlling and does not imply managerial control

News Market Reaction

-2.82%

1 alert

-2.82% News Effect

On the day this news was published, SPRB declined 2.82%, reflecting a moderate negative market reaction.

Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.

Key Figures

Ownership stake: 3.8% Fully diluted stake: 3.1% Reference date: September 30, 2025

3 metrics

Ownership stake 3.8% Harbour BioMed stake of total outstanding Spruce shares after warrant exercise

Fully diluted stake 3.1% Harbour BioMed stake on fully diluted Spruce share basis

Reference date September 30, 2025 Basis date for outstanding and fully diluted share calculations

Market Reality Check

Price: $78.92 Vol: Volume 22,463 is below 20...

low vol

$78.92 Last Close

Volume Volume 22,463 is below 20-day average 32,536 (relative volume 0.69). low

Technical Price 73.53 is trading above 200-day MA at 45.42, indicating a pre-news uptrend.

Peers on Argus

No peers in the Pharmaceutical Preparations sector appeared in the momentum scan...

No peers in the Pharmaceutical Preparations sector appeared in the momentum scan, suggesting the -1.82% move in SPRB ahead of this announcement was stock-specific rather than part of a broader sector trend.

Historical Context

5 past events · Latest: Jan 08 (Positive)

Pattern 5 events

Date	Event	Sentiment	Move	Catalyst
Jan 08	Debt financing	Positive	-5.6%	Entered up to $50M loan facility to extend cash runway and fund growth.
Dec 15	Board change	Positive	-3.3%	Added experienced commercial leader ahead of potential TA‑ERT BLA submission.
Nov 10	Earnings & update	Positive	-9.0%	Reported Q3, highlighted Breakthrough Therapy status, BLA timing, and funding.
Oct 08	Private placement	Positive	-12.3%	Announced $50M private placement to fund TA‑ERT toward BLA and launch.
Oct 06	Regulatory milestone	Positive	+1378.5%	Received FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation for TA‑ERT in MPS IIIB.

Pattern Detected

Recent history shows frequent negative reactions to generally positive funding and corporate updates, with a major outlier positive spike on FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation news.

Recent Company History

Over the last several months, Spruce Biosciences has focused on advancing tralesinidase alfa (TA‑ERT) with supportive financings and regulatory progress. Events include a loan facility of up to $50 million on Jan 8, 2026, board strengthening in Dec 2025, Q3 2025 results highlighting FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation and a $50.0M private placement, and that private placement announcement on Oct 8, 2025. The FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation on Oct 6, 2025 drove a very large positive move. Today’s collaboration‑linked equity stake builds on this pattern of strategic partnering and capital access.

Regulatory & Risk Context

Active S-3 Shelf

Shelf Active

Active S-3 Shelf Registration 2025-10-29

An effective S-3 shelf dated Oct 29, 2025 registers up to 735,325 shares for resale from a prior private placement. The company receives no proceeds from these resales other than the $0.01 per share exercise price if pre-funded warrants are exercised for cash. This structure primarily facilitates liquidity for existing holders rather than new capital for Spruce.

Market Pulse Summary

This announcement highlights Harbour BioMed’s decision to exercise a warrant and acquire common stoc...

Analysis

This announcement highlights Harbour BioMed’s decision to exercise a warrant and acquire common stock, giving it about 3.8% of Spruce’s outstanding shares and 3.1% on a fully diluted basis. That deepens a collaboration around SPR202, an anti‑corticotropin‑releasing hormone monoclonal antibody. In context, Spruce has recently secured debt financing, completed equity raises, and advanced TA‑ERT toward key regulatory milestones. Investors may watch for further partnership developments, capital structure changes, and progress on lead programs relative to existing S-3 resale capacity.

Key Terms

warrant, fully diluted shares, monoclonal antibody, congenital adrenal hyperplasia

4 terms

warrant financial

"it has exercised its warrant to acquire the common stock in Spruce Biosciences"

A warrant is a time-limited financial contract that gives its holder the right to buy a company's shares at a set price before a specified date, like a coupon that lets you purchase stock at a fixed discount for a limited time. It matters to investors because warrants offer leveraged exposure to a stock’s upside and can dilute existing shareholders if exercised, so they affect potential gains and the company’s outstanding share count.

fully diluted shares financial

"holds approximately 3.8% of the total outstanding shares of Spruce and approximately 3.1% of the fully diluted shares"

Fully diluted shares are the total number of company shares that would exist if every claim that can be turned into common stock—such as employee stock options, warrants, and convertible debt or preferred shares—were exercised or converted. Investors use this number to see the biggest possible share count when calculating ownership percentages, earnings per share and dilution risk; think of it as counting all possible slices of a pie if every coupon could be redeemed.

monoclonal antibody medical

"a potent and selective anti-corticotropin-releasing hormone monoclonal antibody for various disorders"

A monoclonal antibody is a laboratory-made protein designed to recognize and attach to a specific target in the body, such as a disease-causing substance or cell. It functions like a highly precise lock-and-key tool, helping to treat or detect illnesses. For investors, companies developing monoclonal antibodies can represent promising opportunities in the healthcare sector, especially as these treatments often address unmet medical needs.

congenital adrenal hyperplasia medical

"monoclonal antibody for various disorders, including congenital adrenal hyperplasia"

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is a group of inherited disorders in which the adrenal glands lack an enzyme needed to make certain hormones, causing a chronic imbalance of cortisol, aldosterone and/or sex hormones. Think of it as a factory assembly line missing a key part, so the body overproduces some products and underproduces others, requiring lifelong monitoring or hormone treatment. For investors, it matters because diagnosis, ongoing therapy, newborn screening and potential new drugs or gene therapies can drive medical spending, regulatory approvals and market opportunity in endocrinology and rare disease care.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., ROTTERDAM, Netherlands and SHANGHAI, Jan. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Harbour BioMed (HKEX: 02142), a global biopharmaceutical company committed to the discovery and development of novel antibody therapeutics in immunology and oncology, today announced that through its wholly-owned subsidiary, it has exercised its warrant to acquire the common stock in Spruce Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPRB) ("Spruce"). Following this transaction, Harbour BioMed holds approximately 3.8% of the total outstanding shares of Spruce and approximately 3.1% of the fully diluted shares of Spruce^[1].

The warrant was originally issued to Harbour BioMed's subsidiary and other minority shareholders of HBM Alpha Therapeutics ("HBMAT"), an innovative biotechnology company incubated by Harbour BioMed, in connection with a license and collaboration agreement by and between HBMAT and Spruce. The collaboration aims to advance the development of SPR202 (formerly known as HBM9013 by Harbour BioMed), a potent and selective anti-corticotropin-releasing hormone monoclonal antibody for various disorders, including congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

Dr. Jingsong Wang, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Harbour BioMed, stated: "This warrant exercise marks a significant milestone in our relationship with Spruce Biosciences. It moves us beyond a traditional licensor-licensee relationship to a truly aligned strategic partnership, reinforcing our shared commitment to accelerating the development of transformative therapies for patients worldwide."

[1] Calculated based on the total outstanding shares and fully diluted shares of Spruce as of September 30, 2025.

About Harbour BioMed

Harbour BioMed (HKEX: 02142) is a global biopharmaceutical company committed to the discovery and development of novel antibody therapeutics in immunology and oncology. The company is building a robust and differentiated pipeline through internal R&D capabilities, strategic global collaborations in co-discovery and co-development, and selective acquisitions.

Harbour BioMed's proprietary antibody technology platform, Harbour Mice^®, generates fully human monoclonal antibodies in both the conventional two heavy and two light chain (H2L2) format and the heavy chain-only (HCAb) format. Building upon HCAb antibodies, the HCAb-based immune cell engagers (HBICE^®) bispecific antibody technology enables tumor-killing effects that traditional combination therapies cannot achieve. Additionally, the HCAb-based bispecific immune cell antagonist (HBICA^TM) technology empowers the development of innovative biologics for immunological and inflammatory diseases. By integrating Harbour Mice^®, HBICE^®, and HBICA^TM with a single B-cell cloning platform, Harbour BioMed has built a highly efficient and distinctive antibody discovery engine for developing next-generation therapeutic antibodies. For more information, please visit www.harbourbiomed.com.

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SOURCE Harbour BioMed

FAQ

What stake did Harbour BioMed acquire in Spruce Biosciences (SPRB)?

Harbour BioMed holds approximately 3.8% of Spruce's outstanding shares and about 3.1% of fully diluted shares as of Sept 30, 2025.

Why did Harbour BioMed exercise the warrant to buy Spruce stock (SPRB)?

The warrant exercise was done to deepen a strategic collaboration related to development of SPR202 and align incentives between the companies.

What is SPR202 mentioned in the Harbour BioMed and Spruce collaboration?

SPR202 is a potent, selective anti‑corticotropin‑releasing hormone monoclonal antibody being developed for disorders including congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

Was the warrant tied to a prior agreement between Harbour BioMed and Spruce (SPRB)?

Yes; the warrant was originally issued to Harbour BioMed's subsidiary and other minority HBM Alpha Therapeutics shareholders in connection with a license and collaboration with Spruce.

Does Harbour BioMed's ~3.8% stake in Spruce give it control over Spruce operations?

No; the announced holding is a minority stake and does not indicate control or managerial authority.