CureVac, a Germany-based messenger RNA (mRNA) drug developer backed by pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), on Friday filed for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Market with a placeholder target of $100m.
The company has not yet set any terms for the proposed offering.
Spun out of Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen in 2000, CureVac is working on treatments that exploit mRNA to create immunotherapies aimed at diseases including cancer, as well as vaccines for infectious diseases such as rabies and Covid-19.
Proceeds from the offering would go towards the development of CureVac’s lead asset – CV8102, aimed at solid tumours – and a rabies vaccine, CV7202, through the completion of phase 2 trials.
Some of the money would support the clinical development of CureVac’s vaccine against Sars-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, through the completion of a phase 2 study.
The remainder would drive other clinical and preclinical as well as platform development, expanded manufacturing capabilities and working capital.
CureVac has raised approximately $900m in funding to date. The spinout completed a $640m round last week backed by GlaxoSmithKline, German government-owned development bank KfW and sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority.
Eli Lilly invested $53m in 2017 as part of a strategic partnership agreement, and cancer therapeutics developer Genmab provided $22m in connection with another strategic partnership in December 2019.
CureVac’s shareholders also include Dievini Hopp BioTech, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Baillie Gifford, Sigma Group, LBBW Asset Management Investmentgesellshaft, Landeskreditbank Baden-Württemberg, Chartwave, Coppel Family, Northview, DH Capital, OH Beteiligungen and Leonardo Venture.
GSK, KfW, Dievini Hopp BioTech and private investor Dietmar Hopp all own more than 5% in CureVac ahead of the offering, though the company did not specify figures in its draft prospectus.
BofA Securities, Jefferies, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) and Kempen & Co USA have been hired as underwriters for the proposed offering.
