Pharmaceutical company Minerva Neurosciences went public on Tuesday in a $32.7m initial public offering that priced the shares at $6.00, well below its $10-12 range.
Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutica paid $19.7m for approximately 3.3 million shares through a private placement concurrent to the offering and now holds a 17.4% stake in Minerva.
Other shareholders, including medical research institution ProteoSys, Care Capital and Index Ventures, all bought small amounts of shares in the offering as their stakes were diluted. Janssen is now the second largest shareholder in the company, after Index, which owns 21.2%.
Founded in 2007, Minerva is developing treatments for central nervous system disorders. Most of the proceeds from the offering will be used to advance two of its product candidates through early-stage clinical trials, while $1.6m will go towards paying off two bridge loans taken out earlier this year.
Underwriters Jeffries, Baird and JMP Securities could boost the size of the IPO to $37.6m by buying another 818,000 shares within a 30-day window. Minerva’s stock stands at $6.13 at time of publication.