Neovacs lowers IPO expectations

French biotech Neovacs today lowered its capital raising ambitions for an IPO this month to €11 million ($14.7 million), instead of the €20 million ($26.8 million) it had been seeking. "It shows a certain lack of appetite from investors," an unnamed Paris-based analyst tells Reuters.

Last month, despite a number of lackluster biotech IPOs this year, Neovacs said it would attempt to raise the €20 million on the Alternext Exchange of NYSE Euronext in Paris. The developer planned to offer 3.9 million new shares from a capital increase or 27.46 percent of its capital, with shares priced between €5.2 and €6.0 per share. The new indicative price range for the offering will be €4.8-€5.6, the company says.

The announcement comes a day after fellow French biotech AB Science said it has priced shares in its IPO at between €13.95 and €17.05 each, which would raise €55.5 million ($74.16 million) based on the mid-range price, according to Reuters. AB Science also said the final price would be fixed on April 21, and trading would begin the following day. The developer markets a veterinary cancer therapy that it is testing in humans.

"It will be interesting to see what happens with AB Science, so we can see if it was Neovacs's business model that was not attractive enough. But investors seem rather interested in AB Science so far," the unnamed analyst adds.

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