21 June 2016

Vator Securities successfully completes advisory mission for Biovica

Vator Securities, a securities company specializing in financial advisory services for fast-growing companies, today announced the completion of a capital raise in an oversubscribed new share issue of SEK 30 million for Biovica International AB.

Biovica develops blood tests for rapid and reliable evaluation of treatments in patients with spread cancer. The first scope of the company’s test, which is marketed under the name DiviTum™, is an evaluation of the effect of treatments for spread breast cancer. The purpose is to provide oncologists with concrete decisions to optimize patient survival. The total market potential of Biovica’s test in this area in Europe and the US is estimated to exceed SEK 6 billion per year.

A new class of so-called CDK inhibitory drugs, such as Ibrance (palbociclib), can today be used for up to 75 percent of all breast cancer patients (Ibrance is currently approved in the United States and is expected to be approved soon within the EU). However, about 50 percent of all patients do not respond to treatment with Ibrance, which is one of the world’s most expensive cancer drugs. With DiviTum™ there is potential for rapid evaluation of treatments enabling patients to avoid ineffective and expensive treatments that may cause unnecessary side effects.

Biovica have published 12 clinical trials that demonstrate the ability of DiviTum™ to prognose, predict and monitor therapy response in the treatment of solid tumors. The company has a further ten ongoing clinical studies with several world-leading partners. Including the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, which collaborates with Harvard Medical School, the Breast International Group (BIG), bringing together more than 50 research groups in breast cancer worldwide, the International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG), pioneers in breast cancer treatment studies, and Karolinska Institutet. So far, over 20,000 patient samples have been analyzed with DiviTum™. Some of these samples have been analyzed by one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.

Anders Rylander, Managing Director of Biovica International, comments:

“We have really appreciated working with Vator Securities throughout the process and we are very pleased with the great interest in Biovica. Vator Securities have exceeded our high expectations and driven the process with great commitment until the end. “