Pliant Therapeutics, a US-based fibrosis drug developer backed by pharmaceutical firm Novartis, set the terms for an initial public offering on Tuesday that will raise $96m at the top of its range.
The company plans to issue 6 million shares priced between $14 and $16 each on the Nasdaq Global Market. Novartis will buy $10m of shares through its Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research subsidiary in a concurrent private placement.
Founded in 2016 and seeded by venture capital firm Third Rock Ventures, Pliant is developing drugs to treat fibrosis, a condition where tissue scarring can lead to conditions such as cirrhosis of the liver.
Pliant intends to channel $70m of the IPO proceeds into a phase 2a clinical trial for its lead product candidate, PLN-74809, in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and a liver disease known as primary sclerosing cholangitis.
An additional $15m will support early-stage development of potential treatments for cancer and muscular dystrophy. The company’s work is based on research conducted at University of California, San Francisco.
The offering will come after $207m in funding, Novartis having invested $20m to lead a $100m series C round that closed in March this year. It committed to the $10m share purchase at the same time.
Redmile Group, Farallon Capital Management, Surveyor Capital, Logos Capital, Cormorant Asset Management and existing investors Cowen Healthcare Investments, Eventide Asset Management, Schroder Adveq, Menlo Ventures, SCubed Capital and Agent Capital also took part in the series C round.
The stake held by Novartis will increase from 6.2% to 7% once the deal closes. Third Rock will remain Pliant’s largest investor, with a 32.3% share that will be cut to 25.5%, followed by Eventide (7.3% post-IPO), Redmile and Cowen Healthcare Investments (6.1% each).
Underwriters Citigroup Global Markets, Cowen and Company, Piper Sandler and Needham & Company will have the 30-day option to buy a further 900,000 shares at the IPO price after Pliant goes public.
