US-based immuno-oncology drug developer Silverback Therapeutics filed for a $100m initial public offering on Tuesday that could allow pharmaceutical firms Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and Celgene to exit.
Silverback is developing monoclonal antibody treatments for cancer and chronic viral infections, and is particularly focusing on therapeutics that kill cancer cells by targeting a myeloid cell activator at the tumour microenvironment in solid tumours.
The IPO proceeds will go to progressing Silverback’s lead drug candidate, SBT6050, which is in a phase 1/1b clinical trial for solid tumours, in addition to SBT6290, which is targeting bladder, triple-negative breast, head and neck, and non-small cell lung cancers.
The company also plans to advance SBT8230, a potential treatment for chronic hepatitis B virus infection. It has raised $211m since it was founded in 2016.
Silverback closed a $47.5m series A round in 2018 that was led by OrbiMed and backed by Celgene and Alexandria Venture Investments, a subsidiary of life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
US Venture Partners (USVP) led the company’s $78.5m series B round in March this year, investing alongside BMS, Alexandria Venture Investments, OrbiMed, Nextech Invest, Hunt Investment Group, Pontifax Venture Capital, Colt Ventures and NS Investment.
Financial services and investment group Fidelity joined EcoR1 Capital, OrbiMed, USVP, Boxer Capital, Nantahala Capital Management, RA Capital, Hunt Technology Ventures, Nextech Invest and Pontifax Venture Capital to add $85m in September.
None of the corporates own stakes of 5% or more in Silverback, whose largest investors are OrbiMed, with a 35% stake, USVP (10.1%), Nextech Invest (7/8%), Hunt Technology Ventures (6.7%), Pontifax (5.8%) and EcoR1 Capital (5.5%).
Goldman Sachs, SVB Leerink, Stifel Nicolaus and HC Wainwright have been appointed underwriters for the offering, which is slated to take place on the Nasdaq Global Market.
Image courtesy of Silverback Therapeutics.
