DAVY VIEW

LifeArc has made an initial $10m equity investment in Kymab and has committed to invest a further $20m. LifeArc is a UK medical research charity that has deep pockets after it reportedly sold most of its royalties in Merck’s Keytruda (cancer drug) for $1.3bn. The strategic partnership means that Kymab could receive a percentage of revenues generated from use of its antibody technologies in time. The investment in Kymab could result in an uplift in Malin’s fair value estimate in the company; its 8% stake was estimated at €28.7m at December 31st (we assume there is no dilution to Malin’s 8% shareholding). Kymab is still on track for an initial public offering (IPO) on NASDAQ (potentially this year).