RA Capital Launches Rare Disease Company Oak Hill Bio onto Nasdaq via SPAC

RA Capital Management is advancing its rare disease biotech Oak Hill Bio to the Nasdaq through a SPAC merger with Research Alliance Corporation III (RACC), a blank-check company it sponsors.

The deal values Oak Hill Bio at about $175 million in gross proceeds, combining $75 million from RACC’s trust, fully backstopped by RA Capital, with an additional $100 million private financing commitment.

Oak Hill Bio will use the combined SPAC and private funding—bolstered by a prior $32.5 million Series A raise—to drive its lead asset, rugonersen (OHB-724), an antisense oligonucleotide for Angelman syndrome, through Phase 3 development and a planned NDA submission in the second half of 2029.

Josh Distler, Oak Hill Bio’s CEO, will lead the combined public company, which is expected to list on the Nasdaq Capital Market by the end of 2026 under the ticker symbol OAKH.

The transaction positions Oak Hill Bio as a challenger to established players such as Ultragenyx and Ionis in the race to develop an approved disease‑modifying therapy for Angelman syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental disorder with no currently approved therapies.