The Elan gene pool delivers once again. It would be wrong to suggest that the business – since subsumed into generics and over-the-counter specialist Perrigo – has had a hand in every Irish biotech start-up over the past decade, but the company's alumni have played a part in many of the indigenous success stories of the sector in that time.
Now, in a slight twist on the model, the team behind Malin have decided to target the funding needs of privately held early-stage life sciences business. The announcement that it plans to raise between €275 million and €325 million in a stock market flotation certainly attracted the attention – making it one of the largest European biotech IPOs to date.
It's not the first time, of course, that Elan executives have got involved in the funding side of the biotech/life sciences business. Fountain Healthcare was founded by executives who had worked in that area within Elan previously and it is now one of the major players in the life sciences VC field in Ireland.
Malin are aiming high. The plan to invest in companies which might need funds to develop but are not yet at a stage where a stock market listing or a trade sale makes sense. It says it already has up to seven investment candidates lined up and promises to provide long-term capital, taking pressure off the companies to deliver in more traditional VC timeframes.
It remains to be seen whether it delivers on that front but its boast of industry experience and awareness of the timing to best monetise assets is underlined by the makeup of the team. That includes former Berenberg analysts Andrew Howd and Elan counsel John Given. Also there are the Elan heavyweights – former chief executive Kelly Martin, a Merrill banker in a previous life, and ex-Elan chairman Bob Ingram, who is an industry veteran.
Fountain Healthcare, among others, will challenge the unique nature of that expertise but the scale of its ambition as represented by the IPO target will certainly make Malin a significant player in the Irish biotech funding universe. If they can persuade Irish biotech start-ups to be less prone to cashing out at an early stage, they will be a welcome addition.
