March 27, 2015
By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor
Israeli early-stage drug delivery biotech PolyPid Ltd. has withdrawn its plans for a $20 million initial public offering, the second time it has postponed its run at the public market, sparking speculation that the firm may be waiting for the biotech selloff to settle, thus putting its market valuation higher.
The company makes a proprietary antibiotic coating for bone repair and has said it would like to wait for milestones in late 2015.
In a terse statement, the Petach Tikva, Israel-based firm said it would withdraw its plans for the $20 million IPO, which had been priced at a range of $10 to $12 a share. At that midpoint, PolyPid would have had a fully diluted market value of around $107 million, but those plans will have to wait. PolyPid earlier postponed its IPO in November, after announcing in October its plans to list on the NASDAQ under the ticker PLPD.
There had been rumors that a recent selloff in the biotech sector, which has dropped 7 percent so far this week, and thus would have value the company at a lower amount, pushed PolyPid to pull its IPO. But Asaf Bar, chief business officer, told the Wall Street Journal early Friday that wasn’t the motive.
“We were very confident with our ability to go public even with the market conditions,” he said. Bar added the company will wait for its pipeline milestones in the second half of 2015 before attempting another IPO.
Aegis Capital was listed as the lone bookrunner on the deal, though whether it might shepherd future attempts remains unclear.
PolyPid focuses on developing an antibiotic coating for bone substitute implants, like the ones used in open fracture or dental procedures.
PolyPid has already completed two pilot studies for one of its two primary candidates, BonyPid-1000, and has said it will run a confirmatory trial in the second half of 2015 to receive regulatory approval to sell the drug in European markets. Its second candidate, BonyPid-500, will begin a pilot trial around the same time, and the company has said it hopes to have both drugs ready to launch in Europe in 2017.
Once that milestone is achieved, PolyPid has said it plans to use those studies to appeal for approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
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