NantHealth, the health IT and analytics branch of Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong‘s NantWorks conglomerate, will put off a planned initial public offering until the healthcare investment climate improves, Soon-Shiong said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
The billionaire biotech executive had said on numerous occasions earlier this year that he hoped to take Culver City, California-based NantHealth public by the end of 2015. But that was before sister company NantKwest, which is developing immuno-oncology treatments, had a rough IPO of its own and companies like Valeant Pharmaceuticals International and Martin Shkreli’s Turing Pharmaceuticals shined a harsh spotlight on drug pricing, bringing the whole biotech sector down with them.
“We’re basically ready. The problem is, we don’t want to go out in the current market. There is no reason for us to go out there in a bear market,” the Times quoted Soon-Shiong as saying.
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According to the report, NantKwest stock has lost 53 percent of its value since a 39 percent surge on its first day of trading in July. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index is down 15 percent from July, the Times noted, and more than half of all companies that went public this year are currently worth less than their IPO prices.
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