On February 7, 2025, Swiss biopharmaceutical innovator BioVersys made its debut on the SIX Swiss Exchange, officially launching Switzerland’s IPO season for the year. With an opening share price of CHF 36.50, BioVersys reached a market capitalization of approximately CHF 216 million.

Founded in 2008, BioVersys focuses on developing cutting-edge antibacterial therapies targeting life-threatening infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria. Among its promising pipeline are BV100 and Alpibectir—two drug candidates aimed at combating pathogens ranked among the top three priorities by the World Health Organization to prevent a looming global health crisis.

This IPO represents a major milestone for BioVersys as a biotech company and serves as an encouraging reminder to all innovators in the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) that success is possible in this field.

To gain deeper insights into this landmark achievement, INCATE sat down with BioVersys CEO Marc Gitzinger for a post-IPO conversation.

What inspired BioVersys to pursue an IPO at this stage in the company’s journey?

We finished for two of our assets clinical Phase 2 trials and came out of both of these trials with very strong data. This was really the basis to plan for a Phase 3 registration trial for our lead asset BV100. Obviously this requires solid funding. As a biotech with such strong data, we felt it is a great proposition for investors and also for the company to secure the finances required towards an FDA filing.

How will the funds raised through the IPO support BioVersys’ strategic goals and growth?

We fill focus a large proportion of the funds towards our Phase 3 program for BV100, but also our second asset, alpibectir, will be supported in further Phase 2 trials in partnership with GSK. Lastly, we deploy some capital to progress our early stage pipeline and maximize the value of our two in house technology platforms.

Was there a specific milestone or achievement that made you feel the company was ready to go public?

Yes, clearly. In the current market environment I don’t believe an IPO is possible if a company does not have very solid data and thus de-risked to a large extend the development phase. In our case the strong Phase 2 data for BV100 and the Phase 2 proof of concept for alpibectir was instrumental to gain investors trust.

As CEO, what has been the most rewarding and the most challenging parts of leading BioVersys to this IPO?

During the many investor meetings running up to the IPO we actually received a lot of very positive feedback on our data and the clear strategic positioning of our programs. This was a rewarding validation of our work so far. The most rewarding part of the IPO itself is that we now have the financial means to develop BV100 all the way to an approval and thus bring our innovation to patients in need. Its now really in our hands to make a big impact for patients, which is great.

On the challenging side, certainly the incredible effort and work it takes to get there. It was indeed a very intensive time that needs a lot of energy and takes tolls on everything else, for example family time.

What advice would you give to other biotech leaders considering an IPO, especially in the AMR field?

Be patient, surround yourself with a very strong team and most importantly have very solid data and a plan on what are the next value inflection points. The last one is maybe to not put all your eggs in one basket. A lot of things need to come together for an IPO including market surroundings, which you can’t influence, so having other options available if the IPO is not possible is crucial as well.

Watch the video here.