Health and Healthcare

Zealand Pharma Closes in on IPO

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Zealand Pharma has filed an amended F-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in regards to its initial public offering (IPO). The company intends to price its 3.9 million American depositary shares (ADSs) around $19.30 per share, with an overallotment option for an additional 585,000 ADSs. At that price, the entire offering is valued up to $97.85 million.

The underwriters for the offering are Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim, and Needham.

This biotechnology company is focused on the discovery, design and development of innovative peptide-based medicines. Its portfolio includes two approved products for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Lixisenatide has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is marketed in the U.S. under the brand name Adlyxin, and it has been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and by other regulatory authorities outside the United States, where it is marketed under the brand name Lyxumia.

A combination of lixisenatide with Lantus, the brand name of insulin glargine developed by Sanofi, has been approved by the FDA and is marketed in the United States under the brand name Soliqua100/33, and it has been approved by the EMA and launched in the Netherlands under the brand name Suliqua. Suliqua is expected to launch in certain other European countries beginning in the second half of 2017. Both Adlyxin/Lyxumia and Soliqua100/33/Suliqua are marketed by Sanofi pursuant to a license agreement granting Sanofi commercialization rights over these products.

Lyxumia had global sales of €32.7 million ($37.3 million) in 2016. For the six months ended June 30, 2017, Adlyxin/Lyxumia had combined global sales of €13.9 million ($15.8 million) and Soliqua 100/33/Suliqua had combined global sales of €9.1 million ($10.4 million).

Zealand intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for the following:

  • Approximately $45 million to fund clinical trials and registration of glepaglutide as a treatment for SBS;
  • Approximately $25 million to fund clinical trials and registration of dasiglucagon as single-dose rescue treatment for acute, severe hypoglycemia or “insulin shock;”
  • Approximately $20 million to fund clinical trials of dasiglucagon as a multiple-dose version for use in a dual-hormone artificial pancreas system for improved hypoglycemia control and better diabetes management;
  • Approximately $10 million to fund clinical trials of dasiglucagon as a multiple-dose version for use in a single-hormone pump for the treatment of congenital hyperinsulinism; and
  • The remainder to advance in-house, as well as in-licensed, research projects into preclinical and clinical development, to fund working capital, and for general corporate purposes

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