Drug development company PolyPid is trying its luck on Wall Street again. A report to the stock exchange by the Xenia Venture Capital incubator, which holds 3.9% of PolyPid's shares, says that the company has announced its intention of filing a confidential draft prospectus with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an IPO. Xenia is listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange at a NIS 66 million market cap
The announcement comes two years after PolyPid withdrew its Nasdaq IPO at the last minute due to market conditions. PolyPid planned to raise $75 million at the time at a company valuation of $370 million after money. A date was set for that IPO, but eventually failed to go through. The 2018 attempt was not PolyPid's first effort to become a public company in the US. The company submitted a prospectus for a $23 million offering in 2014 (at an estimated $100 valuation, after money), but withdrew the prospectus, conducting a private financing round instead.
According to figures from the IVC database, PolyPid has raised $105 million to date. The company's CEO is Amir Weisberg, and its board contains chairman Jacob Harel, former Teva executive Chaim Hurvitz, and Prof. Itzhak Krinsky. Among the company's main shareholders are Aurum Ventures, controlled by Morris Kahn, and Shavit Capital.
Raised $50 million six months ago
PolyPid completed a $50 million private financing round six months ago, led by the company's existing shareholders. The company said at the time that the proceeds from the round would be used to finance advanced clinical development of its leading product, D-Plex100, in preparation for Phase III clinical trials. IVC data show that the participants in the round included Aurum; CHealth Ventures, controlled by Hurvitz; the Friendly Angels Club group; Shavit Capital; and US investors.
PolyPid's product is an antibiotic packed in a polymer (plastic-like molecules) and lipid (fat molecules) matrix; the company's name is derived from a combination of the two. The poly-pid carrier dissolves and releases the antibiotic in a measured dosage over a period of time that can be as long as several months. This makes it possible to avoid infection in the affected area of the body (following surgery or a fracture, for example), without taking any antibiotic orally or intravenously during the period, and without replacing an implant releasing a local antibiotic in repeated operations. It is also possible that delivering an antibiotic continuously to the area of the wound improves its effectiveness. PolyPid will endeavor to prove this in its upcoming trial.
PolyPid believes that its product can also serve as a platform for local treatment using a variety of drugs, not just antibiotics, for example anti-inflammatories and anti-cancer drugs.
Xenia's report shows that PolyPid completed a Phase II trial of D-Plex100 for prevention of infection following abdominal surgery in October 2019. To the best of Xenia's knowledge, the reduction in infection from using the drug, in comparison with the existing standard treatment, was statistically significant. The company obtained approval in 2018 from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for conducting a Phase III trial of the product for thoracic surgery.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 24, 2020
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