Saturday April 10th 2021
Astrazeneca vaccine developed
Oxford startup goes public
The developers of the Astrazeneca vaccine want to put their startup in New York on the stock exchange. The goal: a valuation of around $ 700 million. The fresh money is to be put into the development of new drugs.
The biotech startup behind the vaccine against Covid-19 developed jointly by Astrazeneca and Oxford University has filed an application with the US authorities to go public. The startup Vaccitech is therefore relying on the technology on which the vaccine is based. It should be the basis for developing drugs to treat diseases – such as prostate cancer and hepatitis B. The money from the IPO should finance the necessary adjustments to the vaccine.
The UK-based company plans to list on the New York Nasdaq under the ticker symbol VACC. The company was founded by two Oxford scientists who helped develop the Covid-19 vaccine and who spun Vaccitech out of the university in 2016 with the aim of turning laboratory discoveries into commercial products.
The university played an important early role in the development of a corona vaccine. Astrazeneca later allied with the university. Among other things, the pharmaceutical company had made production and marketing capacities available for the vaccine.
Vaccitech is targeting a publicly traded valuation of approximately $ 700 million. To put it into perspective: Before the pandemic, the company was valued at around $ 86 million. It is expected that a number of investors will accept the offer to buy shares. In a big step towards an IPO, the startup recently received a cash injection of $ 168 million.
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