AlloVir, a US-based cell therapy developer backed by pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences, filed for a $100m initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Market on Monday.
Founded in 2013, AlloVir is working on cell therapies generated from healthy donors that are designed to restore natural immunity in patients who suffer from T cell deficiencies and are at risk from potentially fatal viral diseases.
The company was set up by ElevateBio, a holding firm established to incubate cell and gene therapy developers. It advances work conducted at Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for Cell and Gene Therapy by professor of paediatrics Ann Leen and associate professor of medicine Juan Vera.
AlloVir’s lead asset, Viralym-M, is aimed at five viral diseases: BK virus, cytomegalovirus, adenovirus, Epstein-Barr virus and human herpesvirus 6.
The company’s pipeline includes ALVR109, a proposed therapy for the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. It was licensed as part of an expanded agreement with Baylor College in March this year.
Proceeds from the IPO will go towards planned phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of Viralym-M and planned clinical studies of several other drug candidates including ALVR109.
AlloVir most recently raised $120m in a May 2019 series B round that was led by investment and financial services group Fidelity and which included Gilead Sciences, ElevateBio, F2 Ventures, Redmile Group, Invus, EcoR1 Capital, Samsara BioCapital, and Leerink Partners Co-investment Fund.
The company received $30m in series A2 funding from ElevateBio in September 2018, three months before the Hallal Family injected $2m in series A4 funding, according to the IPO filing. ElevateBio and Fidelity each own more than 5% of AlloVir, though the filing did not specify individual stake sizes.
Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, SVB Leerink, and Piper Sandler have been appointed underwriters for the proposed offering.
