AGI Therapeutics, an Irish pharmaceutical company formed by six former Elan executives, will next month float on the stock market in Dublin and London in a move set to value the business at €100m, writes Ciaran Hancock.

Headed by the former Elan scientist John Devane, AGI plans to raise €35m from institutional investors when it lists on the Alternative Investment Market in London and on the IEX in Dublin. The IPO is being handled by Davy stockbrokers.

“It will help raise our profile and provide us with the funds to further our clinical trials,” said Devane, who lives in Athlone and spent 20 years with Elan.

AGI was formed in 2003 and has four venture capital backers: ACT, Delta Partners and Seroba Bioventures in Ireland, and Merlin BioMed in America. It raised €9.5m from investors in March 2004.

Devane heads a management team of six that owns half the business. All of the backers are following their money.

In a note to investors, Davy says AGI could generate €494m in revenues by 2015, based on successful clinical trials.

AGI is developing therapies for gastro-intestinal (GI) disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease and ulcerative colitis, which involves an inflammation of the large intestine. It currently has six products in phase II studies and hopes to bring the first of these to market in 2009.