Fourth French life sciences company to list in one month
Paris, 29 March 2012 – DBV Technologies, creator of Viaskin®, a new product used in the treatment of allergies, today celebrated its admission to trading on NYSE Euronext in Paris.
Founded in 2002, DBV Technologies developed and patented an innovative therapeutic solution that combats some of the most severe allergies in adults and children, including peanuts, milk proteins and mites. Its unique and revolutionary approach is based on a patch called Viaskin® that desensitizes allergy sufferers. This uses a new non-invasive delivery system to deliver active compounds to the skin epidermis without breaking the blood-skin barrier, thus dramatically reducing secondary effects. The company currently has 27 employees and plans to sell Viaskin® in Europe and the United States in response to rising demand from patients and physicians.
DBV Technologies (ticker code: DBV) was admitted to NYSE Euronext by direct listing of the 8,822,745 shares making up its capital, and the issue of 4,573,171 new shares as part of a Global Offering[1] including full exercise of the extension clause. The total amount raised under the global offering was €49 million.
The admission and issue price of DBV Technologies shares was set at €10.82 each. The company’s capitalisation came to around €160 million on the day of admission.
“We are delighted to welcome DBV Technologies to NYSE Euronext in Paris. Coming after medical technology experts EOS imaging and Intrasense, and biotech specialists Adocia, this is the fourth very successful listing on our European market of a French life sciences company in a month,” said Marc Lefèvre, Head of European Coverage at NYSE Euronext. “All four listings also highlight investment funds’ ongoing contribution to promoting innovative SMEs and the role funds play alongside the stock market in providing financing for businesses.”
Pierre-Henri Benhamou, Chairman & CEO and co-founder of DBV Technologies, said: “A stock-market listing for DBV Technologies is the logical conclusion of our development and full-scale production of Viaskin®. I’m very pleased that our listing has been such a success, since the proceeds will enable us to continue financing clinical studies now under way and take advantage of all of the potential that our Viaskin® patch offers. Our innovative patch technology can dramatically change the quality of everyday life for millions of people, and our positioning in this area, combined with a development strategy targeting allergists, gives our company scope for major growth and the strategic assets we need to become a leader in allergy treatments. We estimate sales potential for Viaskin® in its first three applications at over $5 billion. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to all our teams and to everyone who has contributed to the success of our listing, along with the shareholders who backed us earlier and those who have now joined us and will be sharing in our future growth.”