83.9 F
San Fernando
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

MannKind Has Postponed IPO Until Early “03

MannKind Has Postponed IPO Until Early ’03 By CARLOS MARTINEZ Staff Reporter Entrepreneur and biomed pioneer Alfred E. Mann has decided to wait until early next year to take his biotech conglomerate MannKind Corp. public, despite plans for an initial public offering this summer. “We met with bankers and they told me that, because of my track record with companies and my reputation, that we could go public now, but I don’t believe the market is ready,” Mann said. New York-based brokerage firm UBS Warburg last year conducted a study of MannKind’s assets with a potential IPO in mind, Mann said, but he would not reveal how much it was valued at. “All I can say is that it had a very healthy valuation,” Mann said, adding that the proceeds from the initial public offering will fund research at MannKind’s companies. While it’s unclear how much money an initial IPO for MannKind might raise, Kurt Kruger, an analyst for Bank of America Securities, said Mann’s reputation for building successful companies virtually from scratch could only help. “It doesn’t matter whether he goes public now or later, he’s going to have a lot of interest,” Kruger said. “He has struck gold so many times in this biomedical category that he’s liable to do it again.” The IPO would give Mann the opportunity to acquire more companies and possibly accelerate research at his startups, he said. Even with a personal fortune of about $1.6 billion, the IPO could give Mann the tools to build the next Amgen with one or all of his MannKind companies, Kruger said. It’s still possible a MannKind IPO would face the kind of investor skittishness that greets most IPOs in the biotech sector. “But they’re going to leverage Al Mann’s reputation and his nose for success, and that could go a long way toward resting their concerns,” Kruger said. Brent Reinke, managing director of Crosby Heafey’s Westlake Village office, predicted MannKind’s IPO would generate a lot of interest among investors. “These are companies with potential, and it’s going to help raise the profile of the whole biotech industry here,” he said. Still, potential investors will have to wait a while, Mann said. “IPOs have not been well received by the market so far,” he said. However, initial public offerings by biotech firms have raised $610.3 million since January 2001, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last June, Tarzana-based Unilab Corp. raised $107.2 million by selling nearly 7 million shares for $16 apiece. But many biotechs run into investor skepticism, like France-based Alcon Inc., which raised a disappointing $2.3 million last month, or Washington state-based Northwest Biotherapeutics Inc., which raised $20 million last December. MannKind owns CTL, Second Sight Inc., AlleCure Corp. and Pharmaceutical Discovery Corp., the oldest of the firms, established in 1991. All four companies have the potential to develop a number of new products, analysts say, but it’s hard to imagine any will have the success of Mann’s MiniMed, which he sold to Medtronic Inc. last year for about $3.7 billion. & #344; Chatsworth-based CTL is developing a cancer vaccine, now in early clinical trial stage, that will reduce the size of tumors. & #344; Valencia-based Second Sight is developing eye implants that connect a video camera to a patient’s optic nerve, giving sight to those for whom other therapies don’t work. & #344; AlleCure in Valencia is developing allergy vaccines that the company says could make asthma a malady of the past. & #344; Pharmaceutical Discovery Corp. of Elmsford, N.Y. makes microscopic capsules containing proteins and peptides that can be inhaled or swallowed, making them more effective in delivering medicine to patients. Mann’s track record in creating and building successful companies includes his first firm, Spectrolab, an electrophysics company; Heliotek, a semiconductor firm; Pacesetter, a heart pacemaker manufacturer; Medtronic MiniMed, an insulin pump maker; and Advanced Bionics, manufacturer of ear implants. Stephen McCormack, CEO of AlleCure, said he believes the IPO will bring a heightened profile to his company and to its allergy vaccine research. “It will bring more public awareness of what we’re doing in AlleCure and how rapidly we’re moving into the clinical trial stage and eventually into the marketplace,” he said. Likewise, John Simard, CEO of CTL, said the IPO will help fund expensive clinical trials at his company and MannKind’s other companies, most of which are in the early stages of testing.

Featured Articles

Related Articles