Corporate-backed drug developers Alzheon and Mereo Biopharma have both withdrawn initial public offerings that were slated to take place on the Nasdaq Global Market.
US-based neurodegenerative disorder treatment developer Alzheon set the terms for its IPO last month, two weeks after first filing, and would have raised $75m if it had floated at the top of the $13 to $15 range.
Alzheon had secured just over $29m in funding since it was founded in 2013, including $18.1m in a December 2017 series B round that included a $2.8m investment by pharmaceutical company Aptus Therapeutics, which owns a 5.2% stake.
Healthcare investment group Ally Bridge was Alzheon’s largest shareholder, with a 17.5% stake. The IPO proceeds would have funded a phase 3 clinical trial for its lead product candidate, a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
UK-based Mereo, which focuses on acquiring and developing various drugs, filed for its IPO in March this year and aimed to raise up to $80.5m alongside a concurrent private placement to investors outside of the US and Canada.
Mereo’s investors include pharmaceutical firm Novartis, which holds 19.5% of its stock after transferring several drug candidates to the company.
Other notable shareholders in Mero, which has been listed on London’s AIM market since June 2016, include Woodford Investment Management, Invesco Asset Management and stockbroker Hargreave Hale. It cited market conditions for its withdrawal of the offering.