Xeris Pharmaceuticals, a US-based drug formulation developer backed by drug producer Institut Mérieux, went public on Friday after issuing 5.7 million shares priced at $15 each, raising $85.5m.
The company’s shares opened at $19.50 on the Nasdaq Global Market on Friday. After briefly rising to $19.84 they closed at $18.80.
Xeris has developed two formulation technology platforms, XeriSol and XeriJect, that will be used to create ready-to-use injectable and infusible drugs that can be stored at room temperature.
The company’s lead product, Glucagon Rescue Pen, is an injection for hypoglycaemia – low blood sugar – in diabetes patients.
Xeris had cash and cash equivalents of $58.1m at the end of March 2018 and will use that money together with proceeds from the initial public offering to fund a commercial launch of Glucagon Rescue Pen and to advance additional products through the clinic.
The company had previously raised $100m in equity funding and $52m in debt financing, including an $85m series C round in March 2018 backed by Mérieux Développement, an investment vehicle for Institut Mérieux.
The series C round also featured Wild Basin Investments, Redmile Group, Deerfield Management, Sabby Management, McNair Group and a range of Xeris executives, while Silicon Valley Bank and Oxford Finance supplied another $45m in debt financing.
Mérieux Participations 2, a subsidiary of Institut Mérieux, held a stake of approximately of 6.2% in Xeris ahead of the offering that was diluted to 4.4%.
Palmetto Partners remains Xeris’ largest external shareholder, with a 9.9% stake post-IPO, followed by Deerfield and Redmile (8.8% each).
Jefferies, Leerink Partners, RBC Capital Markets and Mizuho Securities are joint book running managers for the offering. They have an option to buy another 855,000 shares, taking the size of the IPO to approximately $98m.