US-based biopharmaceutical company Vitae Pharmaceuticals closed a $55m initial public offering yesterday, selling almost 6.9 million shares at $8.00 each.
Vitae is developing treatments for disorders including acute coronary syndrome and dermatitis. It plans to utilise the funding to advance two of its candidates through Phase 1 clinical trials, and to discover new drug candidates.
Pharmaceutical companies Boehringer Ingelheim and Allergan hold stakes of 6.3% and 3.3%, respectively, in Vitae post-IPO, with neither investor selling shares in the offering.
Other notable shareholders are Prospect Venture Partners, which owns a 13.6% share, New Enterprise Associates (10.4%), Venrock (9.1%) and Atlas Venture (6.5%). Vitae has raised $109m in equity funding since it was founded in 2001.
Stifel and BMO Capital Markets are the joint book-running managers for the IPO, while JMP Securities and Wedbush PacGrow Life Sciences are serving as co-managers.
The underwriters have the 30-day option to acquire an additional 1.03 million shares, which would increase the size of the IPO to just over $63m.