Horizon Discovery has secured £68.6m to fuel global growth through an Initial Public Offering on London’s Alternative Investment Market.
The Cambridge-based company, founded in 2005 by Dr Chris Torrance and Professor Alberto Bardelli, has been backed by investors DFJ Esprit.
The IPO, which was oversubscribed, gave the company a market capitalisation of £120m.
A platform for gene-editing
The biotech company combines a long scientific heritage in translational research with a world-leading gene-editing platform.
The technology is becoming widely used in genomics research and the development of personalised medicines targeted to specific genetic drivers of diseases like cancer.
In 2013, Horizon Discovery featured in both Deloitte’s 50 Fastest Growing Technology Companies and in the Government’s Future Fifty Programme.
Biotech on the rise
Biotech is set for an exciting 2014.
In September, Google chief executive Larry Page announced he would be venturing into biotech via a mysterious new venture to extend the human life span.
The sector will be buoyed by a successful IPO, particularly after King, the creator of Candy Crush Saga, had a rough first day trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Vishal Gulati, new venture partner at DFJ Esprit, said:
Horizon’s flotation shows UK public markets are opening up for world class science and technology based companies, a sector in which Britain leads.