French biotechs court U.S. investors amid wave of IPOs

Crossject SA

25/06/2014 13:07

By Noëlle Mennella 
    PARIS, June 25 (Reuters) - Eighteen French biotech firms, 
several newly listed on the Paris stock market, head to New York 
on Wednesday and Thursday to convince U.S. investors to help 
fund the next stages of their research and development. 
    Among them are companies specialised in therapeutic vaccines 
(Genticel  GTCL.PA ), cell-based immunotherapy (TxCell 
 TXCL.PA ), genetic disease diagnostics (Genomic Vision 
 GVI.PA ) and needle-free injections (Crossject  ALCJ.PA ). 
    The roadshow comes as France seems set for a record year in 
biotech stock market listings, with a dozen so far this year, up 
from seven in all of 2013. 
    The United States is home to the world's leading biotech 
companies, resulting in an experienced pool of specialised U.S. 
funds with a deep understanding of the sector's complexities and 
long development timelines.  
    By contrast, firms raising money in Europe rely more heavily 
on generalist and small-cap investment funds, many of which have 
traditionally had little appetite for early-stage biotech 
businesses, making Europe a tougher place to raise funds. 
    Analysts say having American investors holding shares in 
biotechs such as DBV Technologies  DBV.PA , Innate Pharma 
 IPH.PA  or Cellectis  ALCLS.PA  sends a positive signal that 
boosts confidence in the entire sector, though U.S. funds have 
largely stayed away from the recent wave of French initial 
public offerings (IPOs).  
    "We've done successful IPOs without the Americans, but if 
you want to go further they are a boost that gives confidence," 
Pierre-Olivier Goineau, head of trade group France Biotech, told 
Reuters earlier this month. 
    DBV Technologies, which listed on the Paris bourse in 2012, 
already has close to 40 percent of its free floating shares held 
by U.S. investors. The company develops desensitizing patches 
for patients with allergies to peanut, milk and dust mites. 
    Such patches have potential peak annual sales of $1 billion 
to $2 billion in 2020, estimates DBV Chief Executive 
Pierre-Henri Benhamou, who does not rule out teaming up with a 
company to sell its products in the United States from 2017 
onwards.  
    Genomic Vision, for its part, has already found a U.S. 
partner to sell its diagnostic tests, which track the genetic 
mutations at the root of rare diseases and cancers.  
    The French firm has teamed up with U.S. market leader Quest 
Diagnostics  DGX.N , which owns 14.4 percent of its shares. 
Since late 2013, the firms have together sold a test for FSHD 
muscular dystrophy, a rare disease affecting the muscles of the 
face, shoulders and upper arms, in the United States. 
    Next year they now hope to start selling a new test 
detecting predispositions to breast and ovarian cancers, a 
product which Genomic Vision CEO Aaron Bensimon sees as a future 
blockbuster with potential annual sales of over $1 billion.      
 
 (Writing by Natalie Huet; Editing by Pravin Char) 
 ((natalie.huet@thomsonreuters.com)(+33)(0)(1 49 49 52 
26)(Reuters Messaging: 
natalie.huet.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: FRANCE BIOTECHS/USA