Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine Startup in Conflict With University Ahead of Planned IPO – The Wall Street Journal

A startup behind the Covid-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca PLC is planning an initial public offering that backers hope will be the biggest market debut of an Oxford spinoff in years.

One hurdle: the university itself.

Nine-hundred-year-old Oxford is wrestling with how to rewrite its rules for fostering companies created by its academics or born in its labs, while in a standoff with one that has been thrust into the spotlight by the pandemic. The startup, Vaccitech Ltd., has been pitching to potential investors and laying groundwork for a stock listing in New York as early as this year, according to people close to the plans and marketing documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Investors are aiming for an IPO valuation of around $700 million, with expectations that Vaccitech could be a $1 billion company by year-end. Big investors such as pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences Inc. and Lilly Asia Ventures, a venture-capital arm spun off from drugmaker Eli Lilly & Co., have expressed interest in investing, according to people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by the Journal.

Vaccitechs chief executive, Bill Enright, declined to comment, as did a Gilead spokesman. Lilly Asia Ventures didnt respond to a request for comment.

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Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine Startup in Conflict With University Ahead of Planned IPO - The Wall Street Journal