An employee of the German biopharmaceutical company CureVac, demonstrates research into a vaccine for coronavirus (COVID-19) at a laboratory in Tuebingen, Germany, March 12, 2020.
Andreas Gebert | REUTERS
CureVac raised $ 213 million in its initial public offering (IPO) in New York on Thursday, said a person familiar with the matter, and set the stage for the first stock market debut of a company developing a promotional vaccine against the coronavirus to combat.
The German biotechnology company sold 13.33 million shares at $ 16 apiece, the upper end of its stated price range, the source said, requesting anonymity ahead of an initial announcement. The IPO gives CureVac a valuation of about $ 2.8 billion.
CureVac did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CureVac is investigating how messenger RNA can be used to treat a range of diseases, including coronavirus. It is an experimental approach that has also been adopted by some of its peers, including Moderna and BioNTech.
Using messenger RNA, researchers hope they can force a patient’s own body to make proteins that can play an important role in fighting disease.
In June, the German government seized a 23% stake in CureVac for about $ 343 million, a sign that the company’s research is strategically important to its national interests. In July, GlaxoSmithKline and the Qatar Investment Authority acquired a stake in the company.
The Tuebingen-based company, which is also backed by Microsoft founder and billionaire Bill Gates, secured a 75 million euro ($ 85 million) loan from the European Investment Bank last month.
In addition to the coronavirus, CureVac is also researching therapies to fight cancer, rabies, and other diseases. SAP SE co-founder Dietmar Hopp has a controlling interest in CureVac and is expected to hold a little less than 50% after listing, according to a company submission.
Bank of America, Jefferies, and Credit Suisse are lead underwriters on the IPO. CureVac shares should launch on Nasdaq on Friday under the symbol ‘CVAC’.
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