By GEOFF SENESCALL
Genesis Research and Development is set to raise about $30 million through a stock exchange listing to help fund its ground-breaking research into psoriasis.
While the company declined to comment yesterday, it is understood to have appointed broker Warburg Dillon Read to manage the float, which is timed for
around June.
It will be the first biotech company to list on the local exchange.
Genesis is in the process of making a private placement ahead of the initial public offering.
The move to go public comes after the company gained United States regulatory approval in January for the second phase of clinical trials of its psoriasis vaccine, which is expected to take up to two years.
A third stage of trials is required before the vaccine can be launched as a product.
Psoriasis, a skin disorder, affects about 100 million people throughout the world.
US approval is vital for any pharmaceutical product as it is the most lucrative market.
Genesis is also expected to use the funds raised for more research and development.
However, cashflow generated from its various alliances and joint ventures is believed to already cover about 80 per cent of its existing cash needs.
The company is also testing an asthma vaccine.
Genesis recently took a 5 per cent stake in global research company ArborGen, which specialises in developing elite tree seedlings.
Set up in 1994, Genesis was involved in gene mapping of radiata pine.
Fletcher Forests is one of its big shareholders.
The company has been hinting at a listing for several years and in 1996 it started trading on the grey market.
Yesterday, its shares closed at 550c, which gives it a market capitalisation of more than $70 million.
After several capital raisings, Genesis has 297 shareholders.
It is thought the company will now target institutions and retail clients - who are expected to get about a third of the shares - and a dual listing in Australia is likely.
Genesis considered floating on the US technology index Nasdaq last year but was advised that it was then too small.
