Massachusetts's Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corporation Sets Terms for $65 Million IPO
January 23, 2015
By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor
Eye drop therapeutics biotech Inotek Pharmaceuticals announced terms for its initial public offering Friday, saying in an updated filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it plans to raise $65 million by offering 4.6 million shares at a price range of $13 to $15—or a fully diluted market value of $200 million if calculated at the midpoint pricing range.
The clinical stage Lexington, Mass.-based company is developing a small molecule eye drop therapy to treat glaucoma. If it can raise that higher number, it’ll be one of the larger biotech IPOs debuted in the last year. When it does go public, it will join an avalanche of companies such as Juno Therapeutics and Kite that have capitalized on the booming biotech market to push valuations—and payouts—to an all-time high.
Inotek initially filed its S-1 with the SEC in November. In that document, it outlined its plans for proof-of-concept drugs and their timelines.
“Inotek is planning an End-of-Phase 2 meeting with the FDA for trabodenoson monotherapy in the first half of 2015 and expects to initiate a Phase 3 program for it in mid-2015,” it said. If that candidate is successful, Inotek has much to gain: Sales of glaucoma drugs in 2013 raked in around $2 billion in the U.S. and $5.6 billion worldwide, according to statistics from IMS Health.
In related news, longtime biotech exec and industry guru Stelios Papadopoulos released data Monday showing that 2014 had 22 percent more biotech IPOs than the infamous “bubble” year of 2000, a major metric market watchers will be eyeing as they head boisterously into a new boom year.
That data found that there were an “astonishing” 82 biotech IPOs in 2014, a massive increase from the 67 IPOs 2000. But deal size overall was smaller, with capital raised in 2014 clocking in at $5.5 billion, compared to $5.7 billion in 2000.
Papadopoulos has been collecting annual biotech IPO data by hand since 1979—a means of data collection most analysts find to be more meticulous and accurate than larger “number crunching” firms like Reuters or Bloomberg that sometimes miss deals.
“I consider his data the definitive source of biotech IPO information,” wrote ISI Evercore analyst Mark Schoenebaum in a note to investors that parsed the data. “I have found many other sources, including Bloomberg, to be inaccurate.”
Papadopoulos is perhaps best known as the chairman of Biogen Idec and the former managing director of life sciences investment banking division at SG Cowen Securities Corp, from which he retired in August 2006.
BioSpace Temperature Poll
What Are Your Predictions for the Price Bidding War? The market has been buzzing about an escalating price war between large payers like Express Scripts and Big Pharma. Multiple deals last week showed Gilead forming exclusive pacts and smaller companies like Kite Pharma starting talks early. What do you think will be the effect on prices? BioSpace wants your opinion!
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Viehbacher also raised the ire of the board by moving to the U.S. for family reasons, spending only about three months out of the year in France. Despite this, he was popular with shareholders because under his tenure company share prices doubled. He also oversaw the acquisition of Genzyme Corporation.
Currently Chairman of the Board Serge Weinberg is acting as interim chief executive officer. There has been a lot of speculation about who might take over the top spot. Christophe Weber, chief operating officer of Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceuticals , had been ooffered the position, but declined.
Other possible candidates have been Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca PLC , who also reportedly declined the position, Oliver Bohuon, of medical device maker Smith & Nephew Plc, Eric Cornut, chief ethics officer of Novartis AG (NVS) and Olivier Brandicourt, director of healthcare for Bayer AG .
In Sanofi’s 2013 annual report it indicated that if he was removed from office, Viehbacher was entitled to two years pay. Calculations would be based on the fixed part of his salary at the time of dismissal and the most recently received variable pay award.
In 2014 Viehbacher’s fixed pay was 1.26 million euros. His variable pay for 2013 was 1.70 million euros, which made for a total amount of 5.92 million euros.
BioSpace Temperature Poll
What Are Your Predictions for the Price Bidding War? The market has been buzzing about an escalating price war between large payers like Express Scripts and Big Pharma. Multiple deals last week showed Gilead forming exclusive pacts and smaller companies like Kite Pharma starting talks early. What do you think will be the effect on prices? BioSpace wants your opinion!