Biotech company Athenex to seek $100 million in initial public offering.
The Buffalo biotech company Athenex is seeking to raise $100 million in an initial public offering on the NASDAQ stock exchange to help pay for its work to develop potential cancer drugs.
The company reported in an S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it needs additional financing to fund future operations, including completing the development and commercialization of its potential cancer drugs.
To move forward, the company said it must successfully develop oral formulations and ensure they can be delivered safely and consistently in capsule form .
The ability to orally deliver chemotherapy, such as paclitaxel, could offer significant benefits to patient outcomes by allowing them to stay on therapy longer and combine it with other treatments, the company noted in the filing.
The company has two drug candidates in Phase 3 trials, meaning the treatments have worked well in previous smaller studies.
Lannon said the IPO marks an important turning point for Athenex and for Western New York, which is trying to expand its biotech industry and would benefit if Athenex is successful as a public company.
He credited Athenex chairman and chief executive officer Johnson Lau and Flint D. Besecker, Athenex’s former chief operating officer, with developing a promising business strategy focused currently on the United States and China.
Athenex in May raised $20 million from investors through a debt offering, according to a filing with federal securities regulators.
The company in 2014 began looking for a location for a plant where it would manufacture advanced cancer drugs and pharmaceutical products to ship around the world.

Author: Henry L. Davis / Source: The Buffalo News Athenex CEO Johnson Y. N. Lau, center, speaks with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Assemblyman Sean Ryan during a construction tour of the new Athenex facility at Conventus in 2016. Also shown is Flint D. Besecker,...