C4 Therapeutics, a small molecule drug developer backed by diversified conglomerate Kraft Group and pharmaceutical firms Roche and Novartis, floated on Friday in a $182m initial public offering.
The company increased the number of shares in the offering from just over 8.8 million to 9.6 million and priced them at $19.00 each, above the IPO’s $16 to $18 range.
Founded in 2016, C4 is working on treatments for diseases such as cancer or neurodegenerative conditions by degrading and destroying disease-causing proteins.
Approximately $40m of the IPO proceeds will go to a phase 1/2 clinical trial for a product candidate dubbed CFT7455 in multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Another $56m will fund trials for a candidate called CFT8634 for synovial sarcoma or solid tumours.
A further $62m will support studies for two more candidates, BRAF V600E and RET, to enable investigational new drug applications for genetically-defined resistant solid tumours.
The offering will follow $225m in equity funding and $20m in debt financing. Cobro Ventures and Perceptive Advisors co-led the $150m equity portion of a $170m series B round for the company in June this year.
The round included 3E Bioventures Capital, HBM Healthcare Investments, Adage Capital Management, Axil Capital, Bain Capital Life Sciences, Commodore Capital, Lightchain Capital, Logos Capital, Mizuho Securities Principal Investment and Nextech, while Perceptive Advisors provided another $20m in debt financing.
Cobro Ventures had led C4’s $73m series A round in 2016, investing alongside Roche, Kraft Group, Novartis, Cormorant Asset Management, EG Capital Group and various angel investors.
The company’s largest shareholder is Perceptive Advisors, owner of a 6.2% stake, followed by Cobro Ventures, Cormorant Asset Management (6% each) and RTW Venture Fund (4.1%).
Joint book-running managers Jefferies, Evercore ISI, BMO Capital Markets and UBS Investment Bank have a 30-day option to buy up to 1.44 million more shares which would boost the size of the offering to almost $210m.
