Members of Investing Women Angels (IWA) have made a return of nearly eight-fold on their stake in what has become the only Scottish life sciences firm listed on the US Nasdaq market.
TC Biopharm, which is developing cell therapies to fight cancer and viral infections, has floated on the New York-based exchange with a valuation of $119.25 million (£87.9m). The move comes eight years after the Motherwell-based firm was first set up by chief executive Angela Scott and executive chairman Michael Leek in 2014.
The initial public offering raised an additional $17.5m (£12.9m) for the company which will be used to finance proposed clinical trials of its Omnimmune treatment for myeloid leukaemia and its ImmuniStem treatment for viral infections such as Covid. It will also help finance continued development of TC Biopharm’s therapies for treating solid cancers, plus overhead costs and capital expenditure.
Following an initial meeting with founder Jackie Waring, IWA was the only angel group to invest in TC Biopharm in 2015 in a £1.2m round that included backing from Scottish Enterprise. Members of the all-female IWA network also participated in several follow-on investment rounds.
Based on the company’s flotation value, IWA’s early investors will generate nearly eight times return on their initial investment.
Waring, who was among those to back the company in 2015, said: “We are so delighted for Angela, Mike and the entire team at TC Biopharm, now the only Scottish life sciences company listed on the Nasdaq. We believed in this world-class team from day one and knew they could take this company to the highest level.
“We are particularly proud of what TC Biopharm has achieved and the phenomenal work it is doing in the fight against cancer, and we’re delighted to be part of this journey.”
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