On Friday, VBL Therapeutics Ltd. (formerly Vascular Biogenics) published a draft prospectus with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $75 million, including the underwriters' over-allotment option, on Nasdaq. The drug development company did not disclose the company value for the offering.
The underwriters are Deutsche Bank Securities LLC, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan, and Oppenheimer.
VBL is developing drugs for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases. It was founded in 2000 and has raised more than $100 million to date. None of its products have yet been commercialized, and it has no revenue. The company has $10 million in cash. Its investors include US insurer Keffi Group and real estate developer Jechezkiel Gonczarowski. VBL founder and CEO Prof. Dror Harats. Other shareholders are Pitango Venture Capital, Aurum Ventures MKI, GlenRock Israel, Kadima High Tech, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA), and private investors.
VBL initially developed treatment for deep vein thrombosis, a cause of strokes and heart attacks, but decided that this was beyond its capabilities as a start-up. The company is currently developing a treatment for brain cancer, for which it hopes to hopes to begin a Phase III clinical trial in 2015, and has other drugs in the pipeline.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 8, 2014
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