Biotech start-up Immunic Therapeutics to trade on NASDAQ
Immunic’s listing on the NASDAQ has been achieved through a reverse takeover, with the company slipping under the umbrella of listed company Vital Therapies, Inc. in a stock-for-stock transaction. After the closing of the transaction, the company will operate under the name Immunic, Inc., and will trade on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the ticker symbol “IMUX”. This represents a smart way for Immunic to go public, with less time and capital needed. It also raises the company’s profile on the international stage, putting Immunic in an ideal position to advance its growing clinical product pipeline.
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For biotech companies, IPOs serve as key indicators that illustrate how high valuations for strong start-ups are both possible and appropriate. The financing scene for biotech start-ups will benefit from this successful example. Benchmarks like this are important in trade sale negotiations as they represent an alternative option.
Michael Brandkamp, Managing Director of High-Tech Gründerfonds, says: “Immunic has been very clever in navigating its route onto the US stock exchange. European stock markets are so fragmented that, for most high-tech start-ups, there’s not enough expertise or liquidity available.” They come up short in terms of international recognition. “If there is an attractive IPO in Poland, for instance, it goes unnoticed,” Brandkamp continues.
A listing on the NASDAQ does not mean that companies are turning their back on Germany, as evidenced by Immunic’s decision to base all its research and development activities solely in Planegg-Martinsried, Bavaria. “We will transfer our corporate headquarters and operational activities to the US, but Germany remains our top choice for research and development. When it comes to science, we believe Germany is the only place where we can advance our research and development projects with a great deal of efficiency, highly qualified teams and much lower costs compared with the US,” explains Dr. Daniel Vitt, CEO and President of Immunic, Inc. Immunic is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing oral therapies for the treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The company was founded in 2016 and acquired two immunology projects from Martinsried-based 4SC AG.
Dr. Lena Krzyzak, Senior Investment Manager at High-Tech Gründerfonds, sees this as an area with a high medical need: “The current treatment options in the lead indication chronic inflammatory bowel disease are limited. Immunic opens up new treatment options – orally available immune modulators,” explains Krzyzak. “We were impressed with the quality of the product pipeline from the very beginning, along with the experienced and highly dedicated team led by Daniel Vitt, who has founded his fair share of companies,” adds Krzyzak.
Investors LSP, Omega Funds, Fund+, LifeCare Partners, Bayern Kapital, IBG Beteiligungsgesellschaft Sachsen-Anhalt and High-Tech Gründerfonds invested an additional EUR 26.7 million in Immunic AG, thus providing sufficient financing to fund development activities into the third quarter of 2020.
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