Biotech billionaire Soon-Shiong plots a second IPO--this time for NantHealth

Print 06 July 2015
John Carroll / FierceBiotech

Biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong has already laid the foundation for a big IPO to help finance his low-profile oncology R&D player Conkwest. Now he's moving closer to getting his high-profile personalized drug-finding company NantHealth on the market as well.

Soon-Shiong is investing $100 million in AllScripts Healthcare Solutions, an electronic medical records outfit, in exchange for a return $200 million buy in that values NantHealth at $2 billion. The deal will integrate NantHealth's promised "Google for the genome" service with Allscripts' digital medical records platform to point physicians to the cancer therapy best tailored to treat individual patients. And Soon-Shiong tells the Los Angeles Times he plans to follow up on the deal with an IPO.

"We feel we have one or two transactions to accomplish, then we will initiate the public offering that we anticipate will happen probably within this year," he told the LA Times.

Soon-Shiong has already filed to take Conkwest public, just months after he stepped in as CEO following his acquisition of a majority interest. The billionaire has also been piecing together an oncology biotech around NantWorks, which has close ties to Sorrento.

If he completes his task, Soon-Shiong--who made a fortune developing and then selling Abraxane to Celgene ($CELG)--will have a pair of public companies valued at close to $2 billion under his control.

"We're confident that our joint efforts will help Allscripts lead the way in our vision of delivering open, integrated and precision-based medical solutions to physicians and patients," noted Allscripts CEO Paul Black. 

Source

Return