ADALTA LAUNCHES $10M IPO TO DRIVE FIBROSIS TREATMENT

BIOTECHNOLOGY company AdAlta has launched an IPO to raise $10 million to fund clinical studies into its fibrosis treatment.

The Melbourne-based company's lead component AD-114 produces proteins which mimic the shape of shark antibodies and engineers their key stability features to create i-bodies.

The i-bodies will be used to develop a pipeline of drugs to treat fibrotic diseases, particularly idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

AdAlta CEO Sam Cobb says current therapies have limited efficacy and the ASX tilt will help the company deliver a solution.

"The IPO funding will allow AdAlta to develop AD-114 to a point that will be ready for licensing to a major pharmaceutical company," Cobb says.

"There is heightened global interest in promising new treatments for fibrosis as well as for the new generations of antibody technologies.

"We also plan to expand our own internal development pipeline of novel proprietary i-body drug candidates generating sustainable future licensing opportunities."

AdAlta plans to capitalise on global pharmaceutical companies seeking to access innovative new drug candidates to fill their pipelines.

The company's strategy is to partner its i-body technology platform to generate early revenues, as well as license its i-body drugs at an early stage.

Cobb says AdAlta has no plans to commercialise new drugs based on its technology, which would delay returns to investors by years.

"Proceeds from the offer will be deployed to expedite our first candidate into Phase 1 human clinical trials and extend the technology into other diseases," she says.

"Our strategy is to license this drug candidate on completion of the planned Phase 1 clinical studies proposed in the offer.

"In addition, AdAlta intends to license or partner the i-body technology platform for drug discovery with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, with the objective of earning up front, milestone payments and licensing revenues.

"Our business model of partnering our i-body library and early licensing of our proprietary i-body drug candidates offers both short-term and medium-term revenue opportunities and spreads the risk."

AdAlta was founded in 2007 based on discoveries made from scientists in the Co-operative Research Centre for Diagnostics, including CSIRO and La Trobe University.

Cornerstone investors, including early stage venture capital firm Yuuwa Capital, will subscribe for $7 million in the IPO.

The company plans to raise at least $8 million at 25 cents a share under the proposed ticker AAB.