Destiny Pharma has announced its plans for an initial public offering, making it only the second biotech company to float on the London stock market this year.
The clinical stage biotechnology company, focused on the development of new anti-microbial drugs, said it has applied for the admission of its ordinary shares to trading on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).
The amount of capital raised through the placing will be determined in coming days, the company said, adding that it will use the funds to progress its leading drug XF-73 to Phase III pivotal studies in the prevention of post-surgical Staphylococcus aureus infections during 2019.
“This should be a key value inflection point as, if successful, our drug would be the first to be specifically labelled for this new US Food and Drug Administration sanctioned indication; a market we believe to be worth a billion dollars in the US alone and growing,” said chief executive, Neil Clark.
The X-73 drug targets antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections in hospitals. It represents the only antibacterial drug known to resist 55 repeat exposures to superbug, Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a bacteria that is resistant to many antibiotics and can cause a variety of problems such as skin infections, sepsis and pneumonia.
