Employee Share Incentives In Recent Biotech IPOs

We have again surveyed employee share plan arrangements as disclosed in company admission documents and prospectuses for biotech companies. Our survey covers documents issued between January and June 2007.

Although there were nine "admissions" there were no main list IPOs in this period, and only three of those were true IPOs in the sense of companies entering the quoted markets for the first time. These were Neuropharm (which is developing drugs for developmental and degenerative disorders), Epistem (which is commercialising adult stem cell research) and China Medical System Holdings (a pharmaceutical company operating in China). Other companies produced documents for different reasons.

The IPO market for biotechs is clearly subdued and that has no doubt led to interest in other areas for raising money, including large licensing deals and exits. However, we are talking to several companies who are considering IPOs later this year and so it may well be that there could be a quick