SurModics Inc (SRDX)

[bridgeofsighs]

Octoplus CFO:Will Float Up To 50% Of Shares-2
Monday August 28th, 2006 / 17h35


Venture Capitalists like Dutch Life Science Partners, SR One Ltd., a wholly owned unit of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and Fortis Private Equity hold 50% of the shares, 40% belongs to the founders, the management and the employees, while 10% belongs to Surmodics Inc (SRDX), a licensing partner of Octoplus.
"We also considered doing another financing round with our current investorbase, but we decided not to because we thought that an IPO would give us more flexibility in the near future."
One of the main reasons for this is that Octoplus wants to be able to keep investing in its future productline. "Developing new medicine is very costly and we will need sufficient funding to keep on going and growing the company. That will become possible with the proceeds of an IPO," Pauli said.
Octoplus has developed a number of proprietary technologies to facilitate the controlled release of biologically active compounds in drugs, and it is working on a suite of medicines that utilize those technologies. The company hopes to commercially launch its first drugs in 2010 or 2011.
Another reason Octoplus prefers an IPO is that it hopes to make a name for itself and become a publicly known company.
Cowen & Co. and Dutch bank Fortis NV (30086.AE) have been appointed as joint bookrunners and global coordinators for the IPO, and Kempen & Co. NV has been appointed as co-manager for the offering.
Octoplus is located in Leiden, the Netherlands. It was founded in 1995 and employs some 130 people.
-By Tjeerd Wiersma, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone], [e-mail]


Monday August 28th, 2006 / 17h35