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LONDON – The launch of biotechnology behind the COVID-19 vaccine, which was jointly developed by AstraZeneca PLC and the University of Oxford, submitted a public offering to US regulators on Friday.
Vaccitech PLC said in a security briefing, they plan to use the technology that supports the vaccine to develop treatments targeted at prostate cancer, hepatitis B and human papillomavirus. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the IPO filing could come as early as this week. The British company plans to list on the Nasdaq in New York with the symbol VACC.
The company was founded by two Oxford scientists who help lead Covid-19 vaccine development and who spun Vaccitech out of university in 2016, with the aim of turning laboratory discoveries into commercial products. An important part of vaccine technology uses an altered form of cold virus from chimpanzees to send genetic material to humans to boost the immune system and fight infection.
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Vaccitech is aiming for a listed valuation of about $ 700 million, and fans estimate that it could be a $ 1 billion company by the end of the year, The Journal reported last month. The company recently raised $ 168 million in new funding as a step toward a stock offering.
It had revenue of $ 4.8 million last year and a loss of about $ 17.7 million and, according to Friday’s documentation, generated no revenue from product sales. Vaccitech is said to be aiming to raise $ 100 million – a figure that is usually adjusted as a placeholder in the first place to adjust during the marketing the business.
Vaccitech has so far raised $ 216 million from investors, including pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences Inc. Alphabet Inc. ‘s GV, formerly known as Google Ventures; and Sequoia Capital China, a subsidiary of venture capital giant Silicon Valley.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Alter | Alter% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AZN | ASTRAZENECA PLC | 49.94 | +0.44 | + 0.89% |
| VALID | GILEAD SCIENCES, INC. | 65.11 | +0.09 | + 0.14% |
| GOOGL | ALPHABET, INC. | 2 270.67 | +20.24 | + 0.90% |
As the pandemic took place last year, Vaccitech was one of the most valuable companies in the portfolio of the university agency Oxford Sciences Innovation PLC, although it did not want to bring any medicine to market yet. OSI is a start-up company that launched the university in 2015 to fund startups comprised of diverse academic areas – from immunology to quantum computing – to better compete with U.S. institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University for research. to commercialize. Supporters hope the IPO will create one of the biggest debuts on the Oxford spider market in years.
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Investors are worried about the rocky roll of the Covid-19 vaccine, reports The Journal. This concern continued with questions about severe blood clots among a small number of people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine. European and British regulators said there was strong evidence of a link to the rare but serious clotting events, but they continued to recommend the vaccine as an important tool to end the pandemic. Perceptions of the vaccine were also affected by confusion over the results of the US clinical trials last month. The vaccine is not approved for use in the US
According to people close to the company and university, the relationship between Vaccitech and Oxford has also been strained by tensions over the company’s role in the vaccine and the terms of the AstraZeneca agreement in Oxford. Friday’s submission states that Vaccitech will earn 24% of all royalties that Oxford makes from the vaccine, as previously reported by The Journal. The submission contains a proviso that Vaccitech did not see the full contract between Oxford and AstraZeneca – something that the bankers and biotechnology advocates unsuccessfully sought, The Journal reported, referring to people close to the parties.