VBL's IPO falls apart as investor drops the ball

A week ago, Israel's VBL Therapeutics had just priced a $65 million IPO and was gearing up for late-stage work on its lead cancer candidate. Now, after an "unexpected situation," the company said its public debut has come undone. A substantial shareholder failed to pay for shares it had agreed to buy in the IPO, VBL said, leading the underwriters, Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo, to terminate their agreement. And so no shares will be issued, effectively undoing VBL's IPO in an uncommon turn of events the company insists reflects upon neither its business nor its prospects. More