Here's something you don't see every day: a clinical-stage biotech company raising over $200 million to become the first U.S.-traded public company focused on prediction markets. And they're bringing a former prime minister along for the ride.
Enlivex Therapeutics Ltd. (ENLV) announced Monday a private investment in public equity for 212 million shares at $1.00 each, an 11.5% premium to the November 21, 2025 closing price. The company expects gross proceeds of approximately $212 million, funded in a mix of U.S. dollars and USDT stablecoin.
The funds will implement what Enlivex calls the first RAIN prediction markets token treasury strategy at a publicly traded company. RAIN is a fully decentralized predictions and options protocol built on the Arbitrum blockchain network. Think of it as infrastructure for betting on future events, but with a crypto twist.
The protocol is completely permissionless, meaning anyone can create and trade custom options on any market they dream up. Market outcomes can be resolved using AI, and the platform runs on RAIN tokens, which include a deflationary buyback and burn mechanism. Essentially, RAIN aims to be the "Uniswap" of prediction markets—a protocol where anyone, anywhere, can create any type of market in any language, whether public or private.
"We believe that following the closing of this transaction and the implementation of the RAIN treasury strategy, Enlivex will become the first U.S.-traded public company to provide investors with an exposure to prediction markets," stated Shai Novik, Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Adding to the intrigue, Matteo Renzi, former Prime Minister of Italy, will join the Enlivex Board of Directors after the private placement closes. It's not every day a former head of state signs on with a dual-focus biotech-crypto play.
The Core Business Continues
Despite the pivot into prediction markets, Enlivex maintains its operating business in late-stage clinical development of Allocetra, a therapy for osteoarthritis. This isn't some obscure condition—osteoarthritis affects more than 32.5 million Americans and over 300 million people worldwide, making it by far the most common form of arthritis.
The company shared six-month efficacy data Monday from the Phase 2a stage of its randomized, multi-country Phase 1/2 Allocetra trial in patients with moderate to severe knee osteoarthritis. The results look promising: Allocetra continued demonstrating substantial and durable pain reduction and functional improvement across multiple efficacy endpoints in the primary age group of 60 and older, compared to placebo.
On a composite endpoint of pain and function improvement—expected to be critical in follow-up pivotal studies—Allocetra reached statistical significance at 3 months in patients 60 and older, with a reduction of 26.8 points versus 13.4 points for placebo. At 6 months in patients 61 and older, the gap widened to 27.8 points versus 15.5 points.
Earlier data from August showed the overall modified intention-to-treat population experienced improvements across all efficacy endpoints, including a 24% reduction in knee pain and 26% improvement in knee function in the Allocetra arm versus placebo. For age-related primary osteoarthritis patients specifically, the numbers jumped to a 72% pain reduction and 95% functional improvement compared to placebo.
Price Action: ENLV stock traded up 6.84% at $0.96 during Monday's premarket session.