GlobeImmune has detailed plans for a $69 million IPO, aiming to rally public investors to back development of its therapeutic vaccines.
The biotech (a 2008 Fierce 15 company) has built a pipeline of immunotherapies around its Tarmogens platform, a method of activating the immune system by stimulating cellular immunity. Two of its most advanced programs include GI-4000, a cancer product candidate in a Phase IIb trial for pancreatic cancer and GI-5005, which has been tested to combat the hepatitis C virus. The company comes to the table with a strategic collaboration with Celgene ($CELG) focused in oncology and a separate pact with Gilead Sciences ($GILD) for its candidates against chronic hepatitis B infections.
GlobeImmune wants to use proceeds from the IPO to ready its manufacturing facility and process for commercial-scale production, support clinical trials, gain working capital and provide funding for other general corporate purposes, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Public investors have made similar gambles recently. For instance, NewLink Genetics, another therapeutic vaccine developer, raised $43.4 million in a November IPO after cutting its stock price.
- read the S-1
- see the Wall Street Journal article
- and Reuters' report
Special Report: GI-4000 - 10 Promising Therapeutic Vaccines