Acacia Pharma, a UK-based specialty pharmaceutical company backed by pharmaceutical firms Lundbeck and Novo, has postponed a £150m ($230m) initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange.
Founded in 2007, Acacia is working on therapeutics to treat conditions arising from surgery, cancer or cancer treatment. Its four lead candidates have demonstrated clinical proof of concept in phase 2 clinical trials, and one, APD421, is being evaluated in phase 3 trials.
The company had raised about £35m ($53.6m) in funding, including £15m in a 2013 series B round co-led by Novo and Fidelity Biosciences, a subsidiary of financial services firm Fidelity Investments, and backed by Lundbeck subsidiary Lundbeckfond Ventures and Gilde Healthcare.
Lundbeckfond Ventures and Gilde Healthcare had already provided $10m in series A funding for Acacia in 2011, after Gilde had supplied an undisclosed amount in 2008.
The IPO postponement comes as a hitherto overstuffed healthcare IPO market begins to slow, with several companies going public below their ranges in the second half of 2015.
Julian Gilbert, Acacia Pharma’s CEO and founder, said: “It is disappointing that our intended IPO, which has received a good level of interest and positive reaction from investors both in the UK and internationally, has coincided with this current period of market uncertainty.
“However, our development programmes continue to progress well and our ambition to become a specialty pharma company focused in supportive care remains. We will continue to work with our existing investors to execute the key elements of our strategy.”
JP Morgan Securities was global coordinator, sponsor and sole bookrunner for the proposed offering, with Canaccord Genuity acting as co-lead manager.