Italian biotech Newron looks to go public

Investment opportunity

A leading light of the Italian biotech sector, Newron Pharmaceuticals SpA, is listing on the Swiss Stock Exchange, placing 2.2 million shares at an offer price of between CHF 45 and CHF 60. If all shares are placed, the company will have a market capitalisation approximately CHF 262 million to CHF 349 million.

The Milan-based company made the announcement as it started Phase III trials of safinamide, a treatment for Parkinson’s disease, which it is co-developing with Swiss biotech Serono SA.

Bookbuilding commenced earlier this week and will conclude on 7 December. Lehman Brothers International and Morgan Stanley & Co. International Limited are joint global coordinators and joint book-runners for the offering. Bank Vontobel and Sal. Oppenheim are co-lead managers.  

Luca Benatti, CEO of Newron said, “We are proud and delighted to present Newron as a new investment opportunity.” The company was formed in 1999 in a management buyout of a research centre owned by Pharmacia (since bought by Pfizer).

Newron, an ion channel specialist with a portfolio of drugs for central nervous system diseases and pain, will use the money for product development, including current and new clinical development programmes; licensing or acquiring new products or technologies; investing in co-promotion rights; and initiating development of a sales and marketing operation.

Recent results of a six-month phase III trial of safinamide demonstrated a benefit in terms of motor symptoms, the ability to carry out daily activities and improvements in cognitive function. The drug was well-tolerated. Newron and Serono are planning to expand development of the drug to Alzheimer’s disease.

Newron’s second product, ralfinamide, is in Phase II trials for the treatment of neuropathic pain.