Vaccitech, startup behind Oxford COVID-19 vaccine tech, falls 20% in Nasdaq debut (updated)

Barinthus Biotherapeutics

30/04/2021 17:21

(Adds background)
    April 30 (Reuters) - American depositary shares of Vaccitech
 VACC.o  fell nearly 20% in their Nasdaq debut on Friday, giving
the co-inventor of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca
Plc  AZN.L  and Oxford University a market value of about $464
million.
    The biotech firm's shares opened at $13.62, below the
initial public offering (IPO) price of $17 apiece for 6.5
million of its American depositary shares. 
    The UK-based company was started by two Oxford University
scientists and spun out of the university's Jenner Institute in
2016. Its co-founder Sarah Gilbert was among the scientists who
led AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine development efforts.
    Vaccitech said it planned to use the proceeds from the IPO
to fund the development of its COVID-19 vaccine technology for
treatments targeting prostate cancer, hepatitis B HPV and
non-small cell lung cancer. 
    The company's vaccine technology uses an altered form of
chimpanzee cold virus to transport genetic material that can
help boost the human immune system and fight infection.
   The biotech startup has already raised $216 million to date
from Gilead Sciences  GILD.O , Sequoia Capital China and Oxford
Sciences Innovation.
    In a securities filing in early April, the company reported
a loss of about $17.7 million for 2020 on revenue of $4.8
million. 
    Its debut comes as mass vaccination programs are underway
across the world to fight the pandemic, with a report from U.S.
health data company IQVIA Holdings Inc  IQV.N  projecting total
global spending on COVID-19 vaccines to reach $157 billion by
2025.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2ML1DB

 (Reporting by Vishwadha Chander in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya
Soni)
 ((Vishwadha.Chander@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223
8780, outside U.S. +91 80 6749 6132;))