The French firm announced the planned initial public offering (IPO) this morning, explaining that it registered its intention with the country’s financial regulators - the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) – last night.
CEO Jacques Gardette indicated the decision to go public was driven by Biocorp’s desire to win more Big Pharma customers for its delivery technologies, citing its DataPen device for diabetes medications as a focus.
“One to two years ahead of its competitors, DataPen has all the necessary qualities to convince pharmaceutical laboratories to sign partnership agreements and then impose itself as a reference in the treatment of chronic diseases.”
Biocorp says it already counts Sanofi Pasteur – the vaccines development unit of French drug firm Sanofi – among its main clients.
News of the planned listing comes less than six months after Biocorp signed supply contracts with Nuova Ompi, a subsidiary of the Italian group Stevanato and the Japanese company Nipro.
Devices to deliver?
Biocorp's pursuit of Big Pharma business coincides with growing drug industry interest in delivery technologies that can differentiate products and - in the case of biopharmaceuticals - provide an alternative to traditional injections.
In January, Alan Shortall CEO of delivery device firm Unilife told us his firm had seen unprecedented interest from companies looking to mark their products out from the pack.
“With over 3,000 biologics coming through the global R&D pipeline, the biotech market over the next 10-15 years is going to be very competitive”
Shortall added that "These are all high-value [drugs], so the real differentiator going forward to bring value to drive payer support, selection preference and patient preference, is really only in the delivery system.”
More recently, US drugmaker Eli Lilly said its decision to set up a delivery device R&D facility was prompted by a need to develop techs to administer its own products and those of its partners.