RUSNANO subsidiary conducted an initial public offering
Atea Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of RUSNANO, made its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. The company’s sphere of activity is antiviral therapy research and development of new generation medical products. One of the company’s areas of activity is the study of coronavirus COVID-19 and the vaccine against it.
During the IPO Atea Pharmaceuticals placed 12.5 million shares on the stock exchange, the price of one security was $24. The total amount came out to 300 million dollars, and the value of the company was estimated at about 1.9 billion dollars. The first trades after the placement brought a 25 percent increase in the share price. The IPO procedure was carried out with the participation of such well-known firms as J.P. Morgan, William Blair, Morgan Stanley and others.
The funds received during the placement are planned to be used for development of clinical trials and improvement of operational processes. Now the main subject of development is the creation of a drug that fights the virus type SARS-CoV-2, which caused the pandemic last year. The specialists of the company have already developed a drug that is under clinical trials. Now it is at the second stage of testing. In addition to this direction, Atea is studying the mechanisms of treatment of hepatitis C, dengue fever, and is creating effective drugs against these diseases.
Atea is part of RosMedInvest’s portfolio, the latter acquired the developer of the drugs in 2014 during Round A. The company’s shareholders are also investment funds, including JPM Partners, ABG-ATEAB Limited and others. Despite the fact that Atea has placed its shares on the stock exchange, RMI does not plan to carry out an IPO.
It should be noted that investments in Atea have become an example of classic financial success. RosMedInvest started financing at the initial stage of the company’s formation. As a result, Atea, with the support of RMI, has gone all the way to development. Now all the company’s efforts are focused on the development of anti-virus drugs, and there are already the first positive results. However, the most difficult thing for the company is ahead – it is necessary to prove the effectiveness of drugs, and first of all drugs against COVID-19. The third phase of testing should begin in the second half of the year. For this purpose, Atea is preparing an extensive scientific and clinical base, which will enable it to carry out all necessary research and confirm the benefit of the drug in treating the virus.
As soon as a pandemic was declared in the world, Atea urgently re-qualified its capacity to develop a drug against COVID-19. Between May and October, the company managed to attract a new round of investment, which took place in two tranches. In total, 215 million dollars were received, and already in May, Atea presented the first results of its development.
