Epizyme, a US-based biotech company backed by peer Celgene’s corporate venturing unit, plans to raise $69m in its flotation on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Celgene owns 14.5% of Epizyme ahead of the initial public offering (IPO), after investing the portfolio company’s series C round, while venture capital firms New Enterprise Associates owns 25.1%, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers 20.1%, Bay City Capital 15.5% and MPM Capital 12.8%.
In April 2012, Epizyme sold Celgene an exclusive license to its DOT1L programme outside the US, including EPZ-5676, for $65m in initial payment, $25m in C round preferred stock and $165m in option fees, according to a regulatory filing.
Celgene and drugs peers Eisai and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have also provided $120m in “non-equity funding through December 31, 2012,” according to Epizyme’s regulatory filing. In 2011, Epizyme signed partnerships with Eisai and GSK that could have been worth nearly $850m in aggregate.
In December 2009, Epizyme raised $40m in its B round from a consortium including Amgen Ventures and Astellas Venture Management, corporate venturing units of their eponymous drugs parents. Epizyme had raised $14m in its A round in February 2008.
The company reports a $702,000 net loss on around $45m in revenue for 2012, compared to a $20m net loss on less than $7m in revenue for 2011.
Investment banks Citi, Cowen and Leerink Swann are lead underwriters of the IPO, with Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr and Cooley as legal counsel.