CureVac raised $213 million in its initial public offering (IPO) in New York on Thursday, a person familiar with the matter said, setting the stage for the first stock market debut of a company developing a promising vaccine to combat the coronavirus.
The German biotechnology firm sold 13.33 million shares at $16 apiece, the top end of its indicated price range, the source said, requesting anonymity ahead of an initial announcement. The IPO gives CureVac a valuation of about $2.8 billion.
CureVac is researching how to use messenger RNA to treat a series of diseases, including the coronavirus. It is an experimental approach that has also been adopted by some of its peers, including Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) and BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX).
By using messenger RNA, researchers hope they can compel a patient’s own body to create proteins that can play an important role in combating disease.
In June, the German government took a 23% stake in CureVac for about $343 million, a sign that it views the company’s research to be strategically important to its national interests. In July, GlaxoSmithKline and the Qatar Investment Authority bought a stake in the company.
The Tuebingen-based company, which is also backed by Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) founder and billionaire Bill Gates, secured a 75-million-euro ($85 million U.S.) loan from the European Investment Bank last month.
Beyond the coronavirus, CureVac is also researching therapies to fight cancer, rabies, and other illnesses. SAP SE co-founder Dietmar Hopp owns a controlling stake in CureVac and is expected to hold a little less than 50% after the listing, according to a company filing.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Jefferies, and Credit Suisse are lead underwriters on the IPO. CureVac shares are due to start trading on the NASDAQ on Friday under the symbol ‘CVAC’.
