Date: Jul 02, 2012 Author: Nathalie Tadena Source: Wall Street Journal (
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GlobeImmune Inc. filed plans for an initial public offering of up to $69 million as the biopharmaceutical company looks to raise funds to advance its infectious disease product candidates.
The company focuses on developing treatments for cancer and infectious diseases based on its Tarmogen platform. Tarmogens activate the immune system by stimulating cellular immunity in contrast to traditional vaccines, which predominantly stimulate antibody production.
It currently has four Tarmogen product candidates in five clinical trials. GlobeImmune's lead cancer product candidate, GI-4000, is being evaluated as a treatment for resected pancreas cancer while its lead infectious disease product candidate, GI-5005, has completed a Phase 2b trial as a treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus.
The company has two strategic collaborations, one with Celgene Corp. (CELG)for all oncology product candidates and one with Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) for chronic hepatitis B virus infection.
GlobeImmune also plans to use proceeds to prepare its manufacturing facility and process for commercial-scale manufacturing, support manufacturing for clinical trials and for working capital and other general corporate purposes.
The company has incurred significant losses in each year since its inception. However, for the quarter ended March 31, Globe Immune reported its loss narrowed to $2.3 million as revenue more than doubled to $2.6 million, helped by its agreement with Gilead.
The company has filed to list its shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol GBIM.
