Celularity Inc., a Florham Park-based clinical stage biotechnology company, has signed a definitive merger agreement with GX Acquisition Corp. that will see it become a publicly traded entity, it announced Friday.

The deal will see GX, a special purpose acquisition company, be renamed Celularity Inc. and trade on the Nasdaq under the new symbols “CELU” and “CELUW.”

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter, and the company will remain under the leadership of Celularity’s current management team, led by Dr. Robert J. Hariri, founder, chairperson and CEO.

“We anticipate that the proceeds will provide us added runway and enable us to accelerate the development of innovative, off-the-shelf allogeneic cell therapies, including genetically modified natural killer cell therapies and CAR-T cell therapies derived from the postpartum placenta,” Hariri said in a prepared statement. “We expect to leverage this transaction and our new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility to advance the delivery of best-in-class cell therapies to patients with unmet medical needs.”

Customary approvals and conditions must be met before closing, the company noted. The deal will give the company an implied equity value of $1.25 billion.

Ardea Partners LP is Celularity’s lead financial adviser, with Morgan Stanley & Co. also serving as financial adviser. Truist Securities and Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. are serving as capital markets advisers, and Cooley LLP is legal counsel.

Credit Suisse is lead capital markets adviser and lead private placement agent for GX, while Cantor Fitzgerald is also serving as capital markets adviser. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is legal counsel.