Alzheon, a US-based developer of treatments for neurodegenerative disorders backed by pharmaceutical firm Aptus Therapeutics, set its pricing range at $13 to $15 on Monday, putting the potential proceeds at nearly $86.3m.
The company will sell five million shares and has allocated another 750,000 shares to underwriters as an over-allotment option. It will list on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol ALZH.
Founded in 2013, Alzheon is developing small molecules that target neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease by inhibiting protein misfolding, whereby proteins fail to fold into their normal configuration and become toxic or lose their normal function.
The proceeds will go to the further clinical development of Alzheon’s lead drug candidate, a beta amyloid misfolding inhibitor called ALZ-801 that is aimed at Alzheimer’s disease and is ready to enter phase 3 trials.
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 its initial IPO filing last month.
Alzheon subsequently obtained $18.1m in series B and convertible debt financing in 2017, with Aptus committing $2.8m and Ally Bridge providing approximately $1m.
Aptus holds a 5.2% stake, which is set to drop to 1.7% following the flotation. Ally Bridge, which owns stock through a subsidiary called ABG II-Alzheon, will see its shareholding diluted from 17.5% to 6.5%.
Citigroup Global Markets and Piper Jaffray are joint book-running managers for the offering, with Canaccord Genuity and JMP Securities also appointed underwriters.