Vaccitech was valued at $ 579 million in the U.S. public offering

Vaccitech, the owner of the technology behind the Oxford / AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, raised $ 111 million through its initial public offering on Thursday, close to its original expectations and ready for investors to address recent concerns about rare side effects. .

The company priced it at $ 17 before it was listed on the Nasdaq, halfway through its projected price range. At the offer price, Vaccitech would be worth $ 579 million, 36 percent above its set price. the last private fundraiser in March.

Vaccitech was founded in 2016 by scientists from the University of Oxford Sarah Gilbert and Adrian Hill and is sponsored by Tencent, Google Ventures and California’s Gilead Sciences biotechnologies.

The company owns the technology used to create the AstraZeneca vaccine and will receive 1.4% of net income if the vaccine is sold non-profit after the pandemic. AstraZeneca is also working on another Covid-19 vaccine that could be used as a boost for people who received the shot.

The rapid expansion of the AstraZeneca vaccine has helped demonstrate the company’s adenovirus-based platform and generated data on the use of millions of people. Vaccitech technology is being developed for other vaccines, including Mers coronaviruses and zoster surveillance.

Vaccitech is also working to create drugs for diseases such as human papillomaviruses, chronic hepatitis and prostate cancer.

The shares of the listed vaccine authors have risen during the pandemic. Novavax is up more than 1,300 percent, and Moderna and BioNTech have both risen about 380 percent in the last 12 months.

This has attracted many companies Covid-19 vaccine development to take advantage of public markets. Shares of CureVac rose 249 percent on the first trading day in August. Valneva, the creator of the vaccines on the French list, recently applied for a U.S. IPO.

Some investors have become cautious in the face of high valuations in the biotechnology sector. The Nasdaq biotechnology index has fallen more than 10 percent since the February peak, after gaining more than 25 percent in 2020. Short sellers have also fallen in the sector, with Novavax and Moderna being among the shortest biotechnology companies. According to S3 data.

After a vigorous study of the Vaccitech Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, concerns will arise about the rare side effects of blood clotting. The company warned in its IPO brochure that this could lead to royalties and its reputation for its products.

Susannah Streeter, a senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the speed of vaccine innovation has been “tremendous” and Vaccitech is one of the companies leading the charge.

“The crisis has shown that Vaccitech can accelerate the success of a successful project, which is very unusual for the early days of biotechnology, often without proving that sale to the stock market,” he said.

The offer was led by Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, Barclays and William Blair.