BioDiem to float next week after IPO success

BioDiem is looking forward to floating on the ASX on January 27, after successfully raising AUD$8.5 million through an IPO.

"We think that was a good result in a competitive environment," said CEO Tom Williams. The IPO had boosted the company's cash reserves to $12 million, he said.

The funds should provide BioDiem with enough cash to get started on commercialisation of its lead projects, including a live attenuated influenza vaccine and treatment for retinal eye disease -- both projects acquired from research institutes in St Petersburg, Russia.

Williams said recent problems with vaccine supply in the US, where a decreased supply of vaccine has combined with a severe influenza season to deplete stocks of this year's vaccine, provided BioDiem with an excellent opportunity.

"The US has pointed the finger of blame at the method used to produce the flu vaccine," he said. Late last year, the US FDA allocated US$50 million towards increasing production of the inactivated vaccine in chicken eggs -- the traditional method used by flu vaccine manufacturers in the US and many other countries, and for development of cell culture production methods.

But BioDiem has licensed a method of vaccine production in mammalian cell culture from pharmaceutical giant Merck, and is running a Phase I clinical trial on material produced by this method to evaluate safety and immunogenicity. Williams believes the company may have got a head start over other influenza vaccine manufacturers by developing a mammalian cell culture based process.

Studies performed on the vaccine in Russia, where it is used as a human vaccine, have also shown that in addition to protecting against the three influenza strains annually included in the vaccine, wider protection has been observed, perhaps through stimulation of a broader immune response.

Now BioDiem is moving to find an international partner to help it commercialise its FluVacc vaccine. The company has begun early stage commercial discussions with a number of potential partners, who ideally would fund the set-up of appropriate manufacturing facilities and clinical trials.

However, the vaccine is unlikely to be on the market in the near term, due to the time required to complete clinical development. "It's not a short-term process as we have to set up pilot scale manufacturing and then run clinical trials on material coming from those facilities," Williams said.

Meanwhile, he said, the company would generate income through out-licensing to its partners, generating signing fees and milestone payments prior to royalties.