By Oliver Hirt
ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss biopharma company BioVersys said on Tuesday it plans to list on the Swiss stock exchange in the first quarter with an initial public offering that aims to raise around 80 million Swiss francs ($88 million).
The company, which focuses on research and development of antibacterial products, said about half of the stock will be subscribed by existing shareholders, including pharmaceutical giant GSK and investor AMR Action Fund.
The IPO would be the first by a biotech company for the Swiss stock exchange since 2018, with Citi, UBS and Stifel acting as joint global coordinators for it.
Proceeds from the new listing will be used to advance the firm’s BV100 drug through phase 3 testing, with the goal of filing with major regulatory agencies at the end of 2027, and to help finance the firm from 2025 into 2028, BioVersys said.
Chief Executive Marc Gitzinger said he hoped the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would in 2028 approve BV100, which is being developed to combat hospital infections.
The firm expected to be making profits by 2030 or the following year, he told a conference call with reporters.
IPO proceeds also aim to support phase 2 development of BioVersys’ alpibectir drug for treating tuberculosis.
The Basel-based firm, which arose as a start-up from the ETH university in Zurich, said it currently has 26 staff but would like to raise the total above 30.
($1 = 0.9082 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Oliver HirtWriting by Dave GrahamEditing by Kirsti Knolle and Susan Fenton)
