ProMetic Life Sciences [TSE:PLI] is considering uplisting to the NASDAQ stock exchange and could do so by YE15, CEO Pierre Laurin said. The amount to be raised through the listing is unclear but the move is "inevitable" to be “in the right market place” for the healthcare sector as it ramps up clinical trial efforts in both orphan diseases and fibrosis, he said.
The Quebec, Canada-based company is working with a number of financial advisors, including Paradigm Capital, Canaccord Genuity and RBC Capital Markets, and will reveal additional advisors soon, Laurin said. California Capital Equity is the majority shareholder.
The uplisting makes sense as it will give the company greater visibility in order to move into the clinical space, he said. The company is in a state of readiness and “could list today”, Laurin noted, adding listing by year-end is probable.
The listing will not be opportunistic as the company does not need it to access capital, Laurin said. Cash at 30 September 2014 was CAD 10.3m, according to 3Q14 financial results.
The company generates cash from its manufacturing services and licensing agreements, Laurin said. The company offers affinity filters, which are used to manufacture complex biopharmaceuticals, and is currently supplying technology to more than 40 large pharma and biotechs in order to manufacture their respective drug proteins. These include Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), Merck (NYSE:MRK), Novozymes (CPH:NZYM-B) and Halozyme (NASDAQ:HALO), Octapharma and Boehringer Ingelheim, according to Prometic’s website. The company will disclose several further manufacturing orders in the coming weeks and months, Laurin noted.
The company, which currently has a market cap of approximately CAD 1bn, expects the switch to be straight-forward as it meets all requirements, Laurin said. The listing would take around three weeks to finalise once the application is placed, he noted.
However, the move is not imminent as Prometic would like to bring in commercial income beforehand by executing further partnership deals and awaits the release of early clinical data for its plasma-derived and small molecule-derived therapeutic pipeline due at various time points in 2015, Laurin said.
Timeline for clinical progress
The company has a focus in two areas: plasma-derived drugs for orphan deficiency diseases, and small molecule therapeutics for fibrosis and related complications.
Lead plasma-derived candidate plasminogen is in a Phase I trial for plasminogen deficiency and the company plans to cross over into a 20-patient Phase II/III later this year, with a view to file for approval towards YE15 or early 2016, Laurin said, noting this therapeutic is under an accelerated FDA pathway. Other plasma-derived products intravenous immunoglobulin and alfa-1 antitrypsin for their relevant deficiencies will be entering Phase III studies in 1Q15 and 2H15 respectively, he said, noting both will be non-inferiority trials to a branded drug and will recruit fewer than 70 and 50 patients, respectively.
Clinical programs for these orphan deficiencies are short given the rarity of diseases and because the therapeutics are made up of human proteins so do not cause the same concerns as new chemical entities would, Laurin said. The company anticipates three additional plasma-derived drugs in Phase III studies this time next year, Laurin said, declining to disclose details.
Prometic plans to continue to develop clinical programs for the orphan indications alone and has the capabilities to commercialise them in the US later given the niche markets, Laurin said. However, it is actively seeking partnerships in Europe and Japan, he noted. It is also seeking large pharma partnerships for its lead candidate small molecule PBI-4050 to enter Phase III trials and commercialisation following Phase II completion later this year, he said.
ProMetic has a market cap of CAD 1.06bn.
by Jinan Harb in London |