PregLem, Swiss Biotech, Said to Hire Credit Suisse for Initial Stock Sale
PregLem SA, a closely held Swiss biotechnology company specialized in women’s health, has hired Credit Suisse Group AG for a possible initial public offering, according to two people familiar with the situation.
The IPO may happen as early as this year, depending on investor appetite, said one of the people, who declined to be identified because the information isn’t yet public. PregLem Chief Executive Officer Ernest Loumaye declined to comment.
PregLem may benefit from this year’s revival of the IPO market. In the first half of 2010, 71 companies in western Europe raised a total of $12.6 billion, more than double the amount sold in the region all of last year.
Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s biggest bank by market value, has underwritten 10 IPOs in Europe, the Middle East and Africa this year, ranking second to JPMorgan Chase & Co., data compiled by Bloomberg show.
PregLem, based in Geneva, has raised about 68 million Swiss francs ($65 million) since beginning operations in 2007. Investors include Paris-based venture capital firm Sofinnova Partners, Sofinnova Ventures, MVM Life Science Partners and NeoMed. The company said in May it planned to raise cash this year by selling shares to public or private investors.
Its most advanced compound, Esmya, was effective in late- stage testing against the most common form of benign uterine tumor. Esmya may be the first of a new type of treatment for uterine fibroids, benign growths that affect about 40 percent of women between the age of 35 and 55 and can cause heavy bleeding, pain and infertility.
Seeking Approval
PregLem gained European and North American rights to Esmya through accords with HRA Pharma of France. The medicine is marketed by the French company as the EllaOne emergency contraceptive after winning approval in Europe last year.
PregLem has said it plans to seek European regulatory approval this year for use on uterine fibroids. If approved, Esmya may be introduced in Germany at the end of 2011 and in other European countries in 2012. A filing for U.S. approval may happen in late 2012, following an additional clinical trial.
Peak sales of Esmya as a treatment for uterine fibroids may be in the “hundreds of millions” of euros range, Loumaye said in a May 18 interview. Between 2 million and 4 million women in the U.S. and Europe who show symptoms of the condition require treatment, which in most cases consists of surgery, he said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Dermot Doherty in Geneva at ddoherty9@bloomberg.net Zijing Wu in London at zwu17@bloomberg.net
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