The IPO year of Æterna Zentaris, Inc. is 1996
Initial public offering is a type of public offering in which shares of a company usually are sold to institutional investors that in turn, sell to the general public, on a securities exchange, for the first time.
Through IPO a privately held company transforms into a public company. Initial public offerings are mostly used by companies to raise the expansion of capital, possibly to monetize the investments of early private investors, and to become publicly traded enterprises. A company selling shares is never required to repay the capital to its public investors. After the IPO, when shares trade freely in the open market, money passes between public investors.
Although IPO offers many advantages, there are also significant disadvantages, chief among these are the costs associated with the process and the requirement to disclose certain information that could prove helpful to competitors.
The IPO process is colloquially known as going public. Details of the proposed offering are disclosed to potential purchasers in the form of a lengthy document known as a prospectus. Most companies undertake an IPO with the assistance of an investment banking firm acting in the capacity of an underwriter. Underwriters provide several services, including help with correctly assessing the value of shares.
Aeterna Zentaris Inc., a specialty biopharmaceutical company, engages in developing and commercializing therapeutics and diagnostic tests. Its lead product is macimorelin, an orally available peptidomimetic ghrelin receptor (GHSR-1a) agonist that stimulates the secretion of growth hormone by binding to the GHSR-1a for the diagnosis of adult growth hormone deficiency and childhood-onset growth hormone deficiency, as well as oncology indications. The company markets macimorelin under the Macrilen brand name. Aeterna Zentaris Inc. has a license agreement with University Wuerzburg to research, develop, manufacture, and sell a potential COVID-19 vaccine; development, manufacture, and commercialization of the treatment for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder; and to develop human 3D intestinal tissue models to study infection biology; and for pre-clinical development towards the potential treatment of Parkinson's disease. It also has a license agreement with Consilient Health Ltd., Novo Nordisk Novo Nordisk Health Care AG, and NK MEDITECH Ltd. for the development and commercialization of macimorelin in the United States and Canada, as well as The University of Sheffield, the United Kingdom for the research, development, manufacture, and commercialization of parathyroid hormone fusion polypeptides for the treatment of primary hypoparathyroidism. Aeterna Zentaris Inc. was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Summerville, South Carolina.