Circassia Pharmaceuticals hails 'biggest ever' UK biotech IPO

13th Mar 2014 10:04

Allergy treatment developer Circassia Pharmaceuticals has confirmed it is raising 200m pounds in its initial public offering, as conditional trading between brokers began on Thursday morning. The biotech firm, which was spun out of university technology transfer group Imperial Innovations, priced its flotation at the upper end of its price range at 310p per share. The company, which will take £191m before costs with selling shareholders the remainder, will be valued at £581m when unconditional dealings begin on Tuesday, making it the largest biotech float in London for over 15 years and the only London biotech float since 2006, according to EP Vantage.Chief Executive Steven Harris said: "We are extremely proud to have raised £200 million, thanks to support from new and existing investors, which we believe to be the biggest ever biotech fundraising at IPO in the UK market. "We have been met with an enthusiastic response from investors across the UK, US and EU who have recognised the significant potential of our product portfolio and platform technology."There could be more money raised, with broker JP Morgan Cazenove granted an over-allotment option, exercisable no later than thirty days from today for up to a maximum of 15% of the ordinary shares in the offer.Circassia's main products include treatments for cat allergy and similar products for house dust mites and hayfever, all allergy immunotherapy products that are designed to overcome the limitations of current treatments. The fundraising provides cash for Circassia to bring its Cat-SPIRE feline allergy treatment to market. "In so doing, we are determined to build a world-class specialty biopharmaceutical company based on British science."OH