New biopharma Apollo readies for lift-off

Sydney-based biopharma Apollo Life Sciences lodged its prospectus with the ASX yesterday to raise AUD$9.5 million from its IPO in June.

Apollo will offer 19 million shares at $0.50, which would give it a market capitalisation of $74.6 million when it lists.

The IPO, underwritten by Blackwood Capital, will fund the company's development of 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 chairman and CEO John Priest said that because the protein therapeutics will mimic naturally occurring proteins in the human nervous and immune systems, they should be safer and more effective than currently available treatments.

Apollo's IP relates to human proteins with natural -- human -- patterns of glycosylation. There is increasing evidence from research that the secondary pattern of sugar residues helps 'tune' the function of a protein's primary peptide sequence.

Proteins synthesised in culture systems that employ Chinese hamster ovary cells, or other mammalian cells, may be incorrectly glycosylated for optimal function as human therapeutics. They may also be important in preventing the patient's immune system from recognising them as 'self' -- some protein therapeutics have induced immune reactions in patients.

Priest said the market for protein 'biologics' was growing rapidly because they offered significant benefits for many major diseases and aging disorders. It is currently estimated to be worth US$10 billion, rising to $200 billion by 2015.

"We are positioning Apollo to capture the significant growth in this area with its unique product offerings," he said.

He said Apollo had a library of 50 human-expressed proteins, supported by a portfolio of over 50 patents and patent applications. The company will initially target the research and anti-ageing/cosmetic markets, to generate revenue for clinical trials -- its first lead compound is about to go into a Phase Ib clinical trial, and it has six others in preparation for preclinical trials.