Viamet Pharmaceuticals, a US-based biopharmaceutical company backed by pharmaceutical firms Novartis, Astellas and Eli Lilly, yesterday set terms for an initial public offering that could raise up to $91.2m.
The company plans to issue 5.7 million shares on Nasdaq priced between $14 and $16. If underwriters Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim Securities and Needham & Company take up the option to buy another 855,000 shares, the size of the IPO could reach almost $105m.
Founded in 2011, Viamet is developing treatments for a range of conditions based on the chemistry of metalloenzymes, which contain a metallic atom that is responsible for enzyme activity.
Approximately $60m of the proceeds will fund a phase 2b clinical trials for its lead product candidate, VT-1161, in onychomycosis, which is a fungal nail infection, and a recurrent form of vaginal yeast infection known as recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis.
Additional capital will be used to help advance a cryptococcal meningitis treatment named VT-1129 through phase 1 and into phase 2 trials, and to fund the development of a valley fever treatment called VT-1598.
Viamet has raised approximately $171m altogether according to regulatory filings, including $76m in a series D round that lasted between late 2014 and February this year.
Corporate venturing units Novartis Venture Funds, Lilly Ventures and Astellas Venture Management as well as Brandon Point Industries, Woodford Investment Management, Lurie Holdings, Intersouth Partners and Hatteras Venture Partners participated in the series D funding.
Novartis Bioventures owns a 13.8% share of Viamet that will be diluted to 10.8% in the offering, while Lilly Ventures’ stake will be diluted from 12.1% to 9.4%.
Other notable Viamet shareholders include Hatteras, which will hold a 6.5% stake post-IPO, Intersouth (5.2%) and Lurie subsidiary A&B Equity Holdings (4.4%).
Viamet initially filed for a $75m IPO in July 2014 before withdrawing the application in September, a month before it raised the first tranche of series D funding. It first filed for this offering early last month.