The Prenetics Ltd. logo is displayed at the company’s laboratory in Hong Kong on July 31, 2020. Roy Liu | Bloomberg | Getty Images Hong Kong biotech company Prenetics is going public through a merger with Artisan Acquisition — a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC — in a deal that will value the combined entity at $1.7 billion, the companies announced Thursday. Confirming [CNBC’s earlier report](//www.cnbc.com/2021/07/15/hong-kong-biotech-prenetics-to-list-on-the-nasdaq-in-a-spac-merger.html) , the two companies said the transaction is expected to close as early as the fourth quarter. This will make Prenetics the first Hong Kong unicorn, or billion-dollar start-up, to become a publicly…