Maryland’s MaxCyte Inc. has set the terms for its debut on the Nasdaq Global Market.
The Gaithersburg life sciences firm, which has a cell-engineering platform for pharmaceutical companies developing new drugs and therapies, on Monday launched a public offering that positions it to trade publicly on the American exchange — five years after it listed on the London Stock Exchange, where it will also continue to trade.
MaxCyte is offering 12 million shares of common stock at a share price between $11.50 and $13.50, the biotech said Monday. In addition, the company plans to give the underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to 1.8 million additional shares of stock.
The business stands to raise approximately $136.5 million at the midpoint of $12.50 per share, minus underwriting discounts and expenses, according to an updated registration filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That amount could climb to $157.4 million if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase more shares. On the high end of the offering alone, the offering could yield roughly $162 million at the $13.50 share price.
MaxCyte plans to use the proceeds to support research and development, expand its manufacturing bandwidth, and for working capital and general corporate purposes, per its prospectus. The company, which counted 75 employees as of June, said it will also use the funding to grow teams for sales and marketing, business development and field application scientists.
The breakdown includes:
- $20 million to $30 million for R&D, which includes commercialization of one of its technologies, called VLX;
- $20 to $30 million for manufacturing capabilities and automation;
- $10 million to $20 million for hiring; and
- The remainder for working capital and general corporate purposes.
The company said in its filing that it may also use some of the net proceeds “for the acquisition of businesses, technologies, services or other assets that we believe are complementary to our own,” but noted that it has no current agreements or commitments for such deals.
The setting of the share price comes a couple of weeks after the company applied to list on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol “MXCT.” It will remain on London’s exchange under tickers “MXCT” and “MXCN.”
MaxCyte reported $26.2 million in 2020 revenue, an increase from the $21.6 million it generated in 2019 revenue, according to its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But the company closed 2020 with a net loss of $11.8 million. That was still an improvement from its net loss of $12.9 million in 2019.
The trend continued into the first quarter of this year, when MaxCyte pulled in $6.5 million in revenue on a $7.1 million loss, per the SEC filing.
MaxCyte’s platform allows for engineering of many different types of cells and it has granted licenses for 140 cell therapy programs, including 100 for clinical use. And it’s poised to grow with a bigger home in the region, after it signed a lease in June for 67,000 square feet in Rockville for its new headquarters. The company plans to move to that office at 9713 Key West Ave. in first quarter of 2022.
MaxCyte deepens its roots in Montgomery County as the biotech and life sciences space — and gene and cell therapy sectors specifically — explode, and as that growth drives more area companies to go public, raise big rounds and set up shop in the region, That momentum shows no signs of slowing down.
BioNTech SE said July 21 it will buy a manufacturing facility in Gaithersburg from Gilead subsidiary Kite Pharma. Rockville’s Vigene Biosciences Inc., which helps gene therapy and vaccine companies develop and manufacture products for rare diseases, sold in June to Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE: CRL) for $292 million. Gaithersburg biopharma Arcellx Inc. raised $115 million in April. NexImmune Inc. (NASDAQ: NEXI) and Sensei Biotherapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SNSE), also of Montgomery County, both went public in the early part of the year.
