Shield Therapeutics Postpones IPO Plans Following Biotech Slump

Shield Therapeutics has decided to postpone its plans for an IPO following a 10% slump in NASDAQ’s Biotechnology Index.
According to an article on Fierce Biotech:

The decision follows a weekend of emergency talks, at the end of which management decided it is impossible to smoothly transition to public markets at this time. Shield CEO Carl Sterritt pointed to the “dramatic increase in volatility” and “significantly negative market conditions for the biotech and pharma sector” in a statement to explain the decision. Actions far beyond the control of Shield–such as the pricing debate in the U.S. and swings in the stock price of blue-chip London stocks–that may ultimately have relatively little impact on its long-term prospects have scuttled the IPO plan.

 
Gateshead, United Kingdom-based Shield is now left with two late-stage development programs and a £110 million ($169 million) shortfall in its financing plans. A spokesperson for Shield told FierceBiotech the firm is backed by “supportive investors,” but declined to answer questions about when it will need to raise more money, whether an IPO is still its first choice and what it will do if markets remain too choppy for it to go public. “For the time being we will continue on our path to commercialization as a private company,” Sterritt said in the statement.