Switzerland's Actelion going public in one of Europe's biggest biotech IPOs

Actelion, the Swiss biotechnology company based in Allschwill, hasannounced an initial public offering of some 1 million shares, up to April 5, at a price range of 230-270 Swiss francs ($138.85-$163.00) each. The shares will be listed on the Swiss New Market and the IPO is being led by Credit Suisse First Boston.

Actelion says it is the first biotechnology company to specialize in the discovery and development of drugs that act on the endothelium, and much of the proceeds from the IPO will be used to finance trials of two cardiovascular drugs, bosentan and tezosentan. Both drugs are currently in Phase III clinical trials, with tezosentan being tested for the treatment for acute heart failure, while bosentan is a potential treatment for chronic heart failure and pulmonary hypertension.

Actelion recently signed a development and co-promotion agreement for tezosentan in the USA with Genentech (Marketletter February 21), resulting in an upfront payment to the Swiss firm of $15 million, and Genentech will be taking a stake in Actelion through the IPO. The company added that it has applied for patents on a number of other substances that act on the endothelium and its research focuses range from obesity and cancer to AIDS and malaria.