Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies Ltd to IPO in London to fund development of
It plans to use the funds to help develop a portfolio of drug candidates for approval as licensed pain medicines
Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies Holdings Ltd announced plans to raise £16.5mln as part of a London initial public offer to develop cannabis-based pain treatments.
The London-based biotech is expected to reach a valuation on listing of around £51mln.
With the company focussed on medicines that mimic the painkilling effects of cannabis, it plans to use the funds raised in the IPO to help develop a portfolio of four drug candidates for approval as licensed pain medicines, with the aim of commercializing the company’s first drug in 2027.
The lead drug candidate, OCT461201, which has reached the stage of pre-clinical testing, has been in-licensed from Japan’s AskAt under a licence agreement that gives exclusive rights on a worldwide basis.
Co-founder and executive chairman Neil Mahapatra, a former man with a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford, has amassed a proprietary library of 93 cannabinoid derivatives as well as the lead candidate.
The strategy includes developing proprietary cannabinoid derivatives, natural phytocannabinoids “and other drug compounds that interplay with the endocannabinoid system”.
Management calculates the addressable market for such painkillers to be worth more than £42.5bn globally.
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