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Law360 (April 30, 2021, 12:35 PM EDT) -- Vaccitech, co-inventor of a COVID-19 vaccine, and Werewolf Therapeutics, a cancer-focused biotechnology firm, went public Friday after raising $231 million combined in a pair of initial public offerings steered by four law firms.
U.K.-based Vaccitech PLC, advised by Goodwin Procter LLP, sold 6.5 million American depositary shares priced at $17 apiece, raising $110.5 million at midpoint. Vaccitech co-invented and developed technology for AstraZeneca PLC's coronavirus vaccine.
Werewolf Therapeutics Inc., advised by WilmerHale, sold 7.5 million shares at $16 each, raising $120 million. Werewolf's upsized IPO — the drug developer originally planned to sell 6.25 million shares — priced at the midpoint of its range of $15 to $17 apiece.
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP represented underwriters for Vaccitech, while Cooley LLP steered Werewolf's underwriters. Both IPOs priced late on Thursday and shares began trading Friday on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbols of "VACC" for Vaccitech and "HOWL" for Werewolf.
The companies declined to comment on their IPOs.
Oxford-based Vaccitech develops therapies and vaccines to treat various cancers and infectious diseases. Vaccitech co-invented a COVID-19 vaccine with the University of Oxford, which has since been licensed to pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for distribution in Europe.
Vaccitech, whose shareholders include Google Ventures, the investment arm of the online search giant, plans to spend most proceeds on developing new therapies, including drugs designed to treat hepatitis B and human papilloma virus.
"We use our proprietary platform to develop product candidates that stimulate powerful, targeted immune responses against pathogens and tumor cells," Vaccitech told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in its registration statement.
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Werewolf plans to spend proceeds on developing therapies that treat solid tumors. Its lead investor is health care-focused venture capital firm MPM Capital.
Vaccitech is represented by a Goodwin team led by partners Robert Puopolo and Andrew Harrow and associate Marishka DeToy.
Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, Barclays Capital Inc. and William Blair & Co. LLC are lead underwriters for Vaccitech. They are represented by a Davis Polk team led by partners Richard Truesdell, Marcel Fausten and Simon Witty.
Werewolf is represented by a WilmerHale team led by partners Rosemary Reilly and counsel Jeffries Oliver-Li.
Jefferies, SVB Leerink LLC and Evercore Group LLC are lead underwriters for Werewolf. They are represented by a Cooley team led by partners Brent Siler, Madison Jones and Div Gupta.
--Editing by Orlando Lorenzo.
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