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Microscience IPO: With a Little Help From Its Friends

 
• By Chris Morrison

Unusually, the VC investors in UK-based Microscience have announced they will pump a further £10 million into the vaccine developer as it tries to enter the lukewarm public markets with a summer IPO on London's AIM. With underwhelming debuts from Ark Therapeutics and Basilea Pharmaceutica in Europe and dramatically reduced offering prices in both Europe and the US, Microscience's investors' show of solidarity may make a necessary difference. But in the end, it's still all about the valuation.

The May 2004 announcement by Emergent Europe that it planned to raise £40 million ($73 million) on London's alternative investment market (AIM), valuing the company at £120-140 million, should have been cause for optimism in UK biotech.

Microscience was seen as a solid choice for European biotechnology investors. Conventional wisdom suggested that the UK-based vaccines firm would benefit from a resurgence of industry and investor interest in vaccines, most recently illustrated by Chiron 's acquisition of PowderJect and a handful of successful private financings by firms such as Austria's Intercell AG . [See Deal][See Deal] With a handful of clinical stage projects and management that has successfully developed such vaccines before, Microscience seemingly met the unwritten rules for biotech listings. (See Exhibit 1

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