LONDON—The Oxford startup behind AstraZeneca AZN 2.62% PLC’s Covid-19 vaccine has raised $168 million in new funding, which it plans to use to adopt its vaccine technology for the treatment of other diseases.
The move is a step in Vaccitech Ltd.’s preparations for going public as soon as this year, according to people familiar with the plans. The moves were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The biotechnology company is raising funds at a time its vaccine work is in the spotlight. It played an early role developing a Covid-19 vaccine alongside scientists at the University of Oxford. AstraZeneca then teamed up with the university, promising to produce and distribute the shot globally. Vaccitech’s co-founders are Oxford scientists leading the vaccine program.
Vaccitech said Wednesday the financing would help it advance clinical trials for treatments targeting prostate cancer, hepatitis B and human papillomavirus, using technology underlying the vaccine.
Backers say a Vaccitech listing could be the biggest market debut of an Oxford spinoff in years. But investors have had concerns about the Covid-19 vaccine’s rocky rollout, The Journal has previously reported. Vaccitech’s own relationship with Oxford has been marred by tensions over the company’s role in the vaccine and the terms of Oxford’s AstraZeneca deal.
The financing valued the company at around $425 million, according to investors. Backers are aiming for an IPO valuation of around $700 million, with expectations that Vaccitech could be a $1 billion company by year-end, the Journal has reported, citing people close to the plans and marketing documents.
Vaccitech’s market-debut plans are shaping up as a test case for Oxford’s spinout process. The university has backed more than 200 startups since the late 1980s, including Vaccitech, but its record of fostering big moneymakers trails leading U.S. universities.
New Vaccitech investors include pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences Inc. The financing was led by London-based asset manager M&> PLC. The funding also included Oxford Sciences Innovation PLC, a venture firm started by the university in 2015 and a Vaccitech investor since the company was launched in 2016.
London-based Future Planet Capital invested in Vaccitech last year before the Covid-19 vaccine trials were completed. The vaccine’s success has boosted Future Planet’s confidence in Vaccitech’s immunotherapy platform, Future Planet’s executive chairman, Douglas Hansen-Luke, said.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine proved safe and effective in clinical trials late last year but was beset by early confusion over its effectiveness relative to other vaccines, and more recently by big supply shortfalls.
The latest setback came in the past week, with pauses in the vaccine’s use in European countries including Germany, Italy and France while regulators investigate reports of serious blood-clotting in people who have received the shot.
European and U.K. drug regulators have recommended continuing use of the vaccine. They say post-vaccination blood clots have occurred in lower numbers than in the general population and haven’t shown links to the vaccine. They say the vaccine’s benefits in preventing deaths and severe Covid-19 outweigh its risks. European regulators say they’ll conclude their evaluation of clotting issues this week.
Write to Jenny Strasburg at [email protected]
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