PrintTranzyme Pharma went public on April 4, raising $54 million through a public offering of 13.5 million shares at $4 per share. The North Carolina biotech had hoped to debut mid-March in the $11 to $13 per share range, but its underwriters couldn’t get any traction for the offer until they slashed the price more than two thirds and tripled the number of shares offered. While Tranzyme got the money it needs to fund ongoing late stage trials of its two lead compounds for gastrointestinal disorders, the offering diluted venture investors’ equity in the company.
Tranzyme’s travails may have been a sign to Aldagen, another North Carolina biopharma in the queue, to pull its IPO. In its withdrawal filing request, Aldagen cited “market conditions” as the reason a public offering was not in its best interest at this time. This was Aldagen’s second IPO attempt. It had filed a registration statement in May 2008 that was withdrawn in October in the wake of the market meltdown.
Although biopharma IPOs are struggling, newly public companies in other sectors of life sciences are gaining traction. Shares of digital health and software firm Epocrates are trading up 24 percent since its IPO at the beginning of February. Epocrates went public at $16 per share, above its target $13 to $15 per share range.
In the industrial biotech sector, Gevo, a maker of renewable fuels and chemicals, went public at $15 per share, at the top of its range, and sold all of its overallotment to raise $123 million. Its shares were trading up 31 percent seven weeks after the company’s IPO. Burrill & Company, publisher of The Burrill Report, is an investor in Gevo.
Fluidigm, a maker of microfluidic chips, has also done well post IPO. The South San Francisco tools company went public at $13.50 a share, the low end of its target range. At the end of March, shares were up 6 percent.
Ascletis, a U.S.-China focused specialty pharma raised $100 million in a series A financing round led by a group of private Chinese investors. Based in Hangzhou, China and the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina, the newly formed company will leverage U.S. innovation and strategic drug development experience with China’s cost efficiencies and highly skilled scientific work force.
President and CEO Jinzi Wu says the financing would be used in part to further build the Ascletis management team and to in-license clinical-stage compounds for development and commercialization specifically for the Chinese market. The company will also seek early stage leads that Ascletis will develop through clinical proof-of-concept before partnering on a global basis [See story].
Finally, PixelOptics has raised $45 million in equity and debt financing from a group of investors led by Safeguard Scientifics, with participation by Delphi Ventures, The Carlyle Group, Longitude Capital, and Stark Investments. Horizon Technology Finance provided the venture debt funding.
The Roanoke, Virginia-based company’s recently launched product is the world’s first electronic focusing eyeglass, emPower! It changes optical power focus automatically without moving parts and without making a sound. It is waterproof and shock resistant and has three modes of operation: manual on, manual off, and fully automatic.
DEALS FOR THE WEEK ENDING APRIL 8, 2011
| Global Venture Financings | |||
| Company | Location | Amount Raised (USD M) | Principal Activity |
| Ascletis | Chapel Hill, NC | 100.0 | Specialty pharma |
| PixelOptics | Roanoke, VA | 45.0 | Medical devices |
| Cellular Dynamics International | Madison, WI | 30.0 | iPS stem cells |
| Agilyx | Tigard, OR | 22.0 | Waste-to-fuel |
| Vital Therapies | San Diego, CA | 2.0 | Medical devices |
| Ablaris Therapeutics | Pasadena, CA | 1.2 | Obesity treatments |
| AnaBios | San Diego, CA | 0.8 | CRO |
| SMT Research and Development | Herzlya Pituach, Isreal | 10.5 | Medical devices |
| Total Raised US | 201.0 | ||
| Total Raised Non-US | 10.5 | ||
| Grants | |||
| Company | Funding Agency | Amount Raised (USD M) | Principal Activity |
| PolyTherics (United Kingdom) | UK Technology Strategy Board | 0.6 | Protein drugs |
| Critical Pharmaceuticals (United Kingdom) | UK Technology Strategy Board | 0.6 | Drug delivery |
| Sequella | NIH NIAID R01 grant | 4.8 | Antibiotics |
| Optivia Biotechnology | NIH NIGMS Phase II SBIR | 1.9 | In vitro transporter assays |
| Scil Proteins (Germany) | Investitionsbank Sachsen Anhalt | 1.0 | Ubiquitins |
| Total Grants | 8.9 | ||
| Public Financings | |||
| Company | Ticker | Amount Raised (USD M) |
Financing Type |
| Tranzyme Pharma | TZYM | 54.0 | IPO |
| Sanuwave Health | OTC:SNWV | 9.1 | PIPE |
| CombiMatrix | CBMX | 6.7 | PIPE |
| Champions Oncology | OTC:CSBR | 9.4 | PIPE |
| Microbix Biosystems (Canada) | TSX:MBX | 0.1 | PIPE |
| First China Pharmaceutical (China) | OTC:FCPG | 1.5 | PIPE |
| Adeona Pharmaceuticals | AEN | 3.5 | PIPE-RDO |
| Idenix Pharmaceuticals | IDIX | 5.0 | PIPE |
| Biolase Technology | BLTI | 1.8 | PIPE |
| Medgenics | MDGN | 12.0 | Follow on |
| PolyMedix | OTC:PYMX | 20.0 | Follow on |
| Inhibitex | INHX | 47.0 | Follow on |
| Idenix Pharmaceuticals | IDIX | 51.3 | Follow on |
| Sangamo BioSciences | SGMO | 52.0 | Follow on |
| Fluidigm | FLDM | 7.0 | Credit facility |
| Total Public Financings-US | 278.8 | ||
| Total Public Financings-Non-US | 1.6 | ||
| M&A | |||
| Acquirer | Target | Deal Value (USD M) |
Focus |
| KKR | Pfizer's Capsugel | 2,380.0 | Drug delivery |
| Royalty Pharma | Lexiscan and Cubicin royalties | 487.0 | Drug sales |
| Novartis (Novartis) | Alcon (Switzerland) | 463.0 | Eye care |
| Merck | Inspire Pharmaceuticals | 430.0 | Ophthalmic |
| Meda (Sweden) | Novartis' Elidel cream (Switzerland) | 420.0 | Dermatology |
| Qiagen (Netherlands) | Cellestis (Australia) | 355.0 | Diagnostics |
| Amgen | Bergamo (Brazil) | 215.0 | Pharmaceuticals |
| Sinclair Pharma (United Kingdom) | IS Pharma (United Kingdom) | 197.0 | Pharmaceuticals |
| LabCorp | Orchid Cellmark | 85.4 | Diagnostics |
| SuperGen | Astex Therapeutics (United Kingdom) | 55.0 | Cancer, infectious |
| Boston Scientific | S.I. Therapies (Israel) | 24.3 | Medical devices |
| OncoSec Medical | Inovio Pharmaceuticals | 3.0 | Cancer |
| Techne | Boston Biochem | N/A | Tools/Technology |
| Evolva (Switzerland) | Abunda Nutrition | N/A | Wellness |
| Alliances | |||
| Company/Licenser | Company/Licensee | Deal Value (USD M) |
Focus |
| Zacharon Pharmaceuticals | Pfizer | 210.0 | Rare diseases collaboration |
| Vertex | Cystic Fibrosis Foundation | 75.0 | Cystic fibrosis therapeutic collaboraton |
| Sunesis Pharmaceuticals | Millenium (Takeda-Japan) | 64.0 | Cancer therapeutic license |
| Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma (Japan) | Boston Biomedical | 55.0 | Cancer stem cells partnership |
| Cubist Pharmaceuticals | Optimer Pharmaceuticals | 47.5 | Antibiotics co-promotion |
| Sky Unicorn (Biofield) | McKinley Infocapital (Korea) | 15.3 | Diagnostics distribution agreement |
| MolMed (Italy) | Fondazione Telethon (Italy) | 11.7 | Gene/cell therapy partnership |
| Invida (Singapore) | Roche (Switzerland) | N/A | Primary care partnership |
| Merck KGaA (Germany) | Newron Pharmaceuticals (Italy) | N/A | Neurology license |
| Daiichi Sankyo (Japan) | Pfizer | N/A | Hypertension drug co-promotion agreement |
| Breckenridge Pharmaceutical | Oman Pharmaceutical Products (Oman) | N/A | Generics marketing agreement |
| CollabRx | ASCO | N/A | Healthcaare IT partnership |
| BioLeap | Syngenta (Switzerland) | N/A | Agbiotech collaboration |
| Lupin (India) | Salix Pharmaceuticals | N/A | Antibiotics license |
| BioWa (Kyowa Hakko Kirin-Japan) | Oxford BioTherapeutics (United Kingdom) | N/A | Antibody technology license |
| Definiens (Germany) | Cernostics Pathology | N/A | Diagnostics partnership |
| Seegene (Korea) | Samsung Medical Center (Korea) | N/A | Diagnostics partnership |
April 08, 2011
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-no_love_for_biopharma_ipos.html
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