Nanyang Biologics, a Singapore-based artificial intelligence drug discovery start-up, plans to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange in the first quarter of 2026 via a merger with a US-listed special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), as US President Donald Trump vowed to impose hefty tariffs on pharmaceutical imports.
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“The US administration wants intellectual property owners to manufacture in the US, including drugs,” founder Roland Ong said on Monday.
Nanyang Biologic’s latest initiative reflects its efforts to have its early-stage drug assets licensed to US manufacturers, which was in line with the Trump administration’s goals, while ensuring that US tariff issues would have little impact on the five-year-old start-up.
The pre-revenue company, which had five drug candidates targeting cancer and cardiovascular diseases in the pipeline, this year planned to expand its research coverage to stress-related disorders and dementia, Ong said.
Proceeds from the Nasdaq listing would be earmarked for expanding the start-up’s technology platform and developing its therapeutic pipeline.
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Trump announced last month that brand-name or patented pharmaceutical products would face a 100 per cent tariff, effective on October 1, unless the drug manufacturer was building a production facility in the US.
Still, Trump has said he would delay the tariffs for a year or a year and a half, giving companies a chance to stockpile medicine and shift manufacturing to the US – something some have already begun to do.