To Back Startups, PureTech Heads Across the Pond For $160M London IPO
Summary
PureTech, the creator of a slew of local startups at the nexus of healthcare and technology, this morning filed papers to go public in England.It’s aiming to hold an IPO on the London Stock Exchange, selling at least 25 percent of its outstanding shares in a bid to push forward its various nascent companies—startups like Tal Medical (developing an anti-depression device) and Akili Interactive (therapeutic/diagnostic video games).PureTech declined to comment on its rationale this morning, citing regulatory restrictions that bar the firm from talking to U.S. reporters.Instead, it’s structured as a large healthcare operating company with the budget to support itself and the startups it seeds, which function as subsidiaries.Zohar said in the filing that the cash would bring PureTech’s “most advanced product candidates to revenues.” “With the acceleration of scientific discovery and the convergence of new and disruptive technologies being applied to life sciences, we believe the healthcare industry is on the cusp of a major transformation,” she wrote.