Seattle-based Aptevo Therapeutics completed a spinoff from Emergent BioSolutions Monday, making a debut in the public markets as a standalone company. They are the second Seattle-area biotech company to go public this year, after PhaseRX’s IPO in May.
Aptevo also announced an agreement for a $35 million term loan from MidCap Financial, providing additional capital it can use to build out its oncology and hematology products.
“We believe this financing, along with the $65 million total cash contribution from Emergent BioSolutions and the cash flows generated from our commercial product portfolio, provide Aptevo with a solid cash position to pursue our strategy of bringing novel oncology and hematology therapeutics to market in order to enhance patients’ lives and drive value for our shareholders,” said CEO Marvin White in a press release. White previously served as CFO of Lilly USA, a subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company.
Aptevo’s stock has steadily increased since the spin out, sitting at $3.23 on Tuesday morning. The stock is trading on Nasdaq under the ticket APVO.
As part of the spin out, shareholders of Emergent — a publicly-traded biotech company based in Maryland — received two shares of Aptevo for each share they own. About 20 million shares were distribution.
Aptevo focuses on immunotherapy, a method of cancer treatment that uses agents in the immune system—like antibodies—to wipe out cancer cells while leaving healthy cells and tissue unharmed.
They are one of several Seattle-based biotech companies working on immunotherapy treatments. Seattle Genetics announced the success of a clinical trial of their lymphoma immunotherapy yesterday.
