Voyager Therapeutics, a US-based gene therapy technology developer backed by pharmaceutical firm Sanofi through its Aventis subsidiary, filed for an $86.3m initial public offering on Friday.
Founded in 2013, Voyager is working on gene therapy treatments for diseases affecting the central nervous system. Its most advanced clinical candidate, VY-AADC01, is currently in an open-label, Phase 1b clinical trial for advanced Parkinson’s disease.
The company intends to use the IPO proceeds to fund further clinical development and manufacturing of VY-AADC01, as well as preclinical programmes for treatments of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Friedreich’s ataxia, Huntington’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy.
Voyager raised $45m in series A funding from venture capital firm Third Rock Ventures in January 2014 before Aventis invested $30m in February this year as part of a strategic collaboration with agreement with one of its affiliates, Genzyme.
Fidelity Management Research Company, Brookside Capital Partners and Partners Investments provided a further $49m for Voyager in April.
Third Rock is Voyager’s largest shareholder, with a 52.6% stake, while Aventis holds an 11.2% share. Fidelity holds 7.5%, Brookside 5.6% and Partners Investments 5.2%.
The underwriters for the offering are Cowen and Company, Piper Jaffray, Nomura Securities International and Wedbush Securities.