Aeglea Biotherapeutics, a US-based biotechnology company backed by pharmaceutical firms Novartis and Eli Lilly, will raise $50m when it goes public on Nasdaq today.
The company will issue 5 million shares in the initial public offering, priced at $10.00 each yesterday, below the $16 to $18 range it set late last month when it planned to issue 3.5 million shares.
Aeglea is developing enzyme-based therapeutics designed to degrade specific amino acids in a patient’s blood in order to treat cancer and inborn errors of metabolism, which represent a subset of rare genetic metabolic diseases.
The company intends to put $25m of the proceeds into further development of its lead product candidate, AEB1102, and $15m to advance other candidates, with the rest to be used for general working capital.
Aeglea raised approximately $9.5m in a 2014 series A round in which Novartis Bioventures and Lilly Ventures, respective subsidiaries of Novartis and Eli Lilly, each invested almost $4.7m.
The round was followed in March 2015 by a $44m series B round that included $10m investments by Novartis Bioventures and Lilly Ventures, as well as contributions by UT Horizon Fund, OrbiMed, Jennison Associates, Venrock, RA Capital Management, Rock Springs Capital, Ally Bridge Group and Cowen Investments.
Lilly Ventures held a 26.1% stake that will be diluted to 16% in the offering, while Novartis Bioventures’ share will be diluted from 25.4% to 15.6%. Other notable shareholders include OrbiMed, which will retain a 4.3% stake post-offering, and Jennison, which will come out with a 3.5% share.
UBS Investment Bank, BMO Capital Markets and Wells Fargo Securities are joint book-running managers for the IPO whole Needham & Company is serving as co-manager. They have a 30-day option to buy another 750,000 shares, which would push the proceeds up to $57.5m.