Apollo Life Sciences lists at premium

Sydney-based biopharmaceutical Apollo Life Sciences (ASX:AOP) has made a stellar debut on the ASX, at a 54 per cent premium to its offer price.

The AUD$0.50 shares started trading at $0.60, reached a high of $0.77, and closed at that level. The overall market was down five points on Wednesday, when Apollo listed. Yesterday the trend continued, with shares trading at $1.00 at the time of writing, double its offer price.

Apollo's $9.5 million IPO, which opened earlier this month and closed to the public early and heavily oversubscribed, was underwritten by Blackwood Capital. "We're very happy," said Blackwood Capital director Stuart Richardson after the ASX listing.

Apollo produces a range of natural human protein-based therapeutics for ageing and immune-system disorders including Alzheimer's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and psoriasis, and chronic viral infections like hepatitis C. Apollo will also be targeting sales in anti-aging cosmetics in the first quarter of 2006.

Richardson said Apollo had captured the market's imagination, in part because of its chairman, John Priest, a former executive director of Coca Cola Amatil. "What's of interest there is that it's now a businessman heading up a biotech," said Richardson. "I'd always argue that businessmen are looking for commercial outcomes and a lot of the scientists aren't."

Richardson said Apollo had various routes to market, which also made it attractive to investors. "What they've got in the fridge is 100 proteins, 50 of them patented and they're moving the patents up as they go," said Richardson.

The market also like Apollo's focus on cosmetics, Richardson said. It has potentially three cosmetic products -- a collagen cream, a hair removal and a hair loss treatment -- ready by the middle of next year. "The cosmetic market is 12 months registration, no trials," said Richardson.