Alzheon, a US-based developer of treatments for neurodegenerative disorders, has filed to raise up to $80.5m in an initial public offering that will enable pharmaceutical company Aptus Therapeutics to exit.
Founded in 2013, Alzheon is working on developing small molecules that will combat neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease by inhibiting protein misfolding, a process where proteins do not fold correctly, leading to them becoming damaged or toxic.
The IPO proceeds will go to advancing Alzheon’s lead drug candidate, a beta amyloid misfolding inhibitor known as ALZ-801, further into clinical development. ALZ-801 is intended to address a major underlying factor in Alzheimer’s disease.
The company raised $10m in series A funding from investors including investment group Ally Bridge and $1.1m in convertible note financing in 2015, according to the IPO filing.
Alzheon subsequently closed $18.1m in series B and convertible debt financing in December 2017, with Aptus investing $2.8m and Ally Bridge approximately $1m. Aptus owns a 5.2% share of the company and Ally Bridge 17.5% through a vehicle called ABG II-Alzheon.
Citigroup Global Markets and Piper Jaffray are joint book-running managers for the IPO, while Canaccord Genuity and JMP Securities have also been appointed underwriters. The offering will take place on the Nasdaq Global Market.
Two other neurodegenerative disease therapy developers, Prevail Therapeutics and TauRx, have announced signficant funding rounds in the past week.