AN2 Therapeutics, a US-based lung disease therapy developer backed by drug producer Brii Biosciences, has filed to raise up to $75m in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Market.
Founded in 2018, AN2 is developing therapeutics for rare and chronic infectious diseases including non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung illness. Its lead drug candidate is a once-daily oral medication called epetraborole which it licensed from Anacor Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company since acquired by pharmaceutical firm Pfizer.
The company intends to use the IPO proceeds to conduct phase 2 and 3 trials for epetraborole and expand it internationally, starting with the Japanese market. Cowen, SVB Leerink, Evercore ISI and Oppenheimer have been appointed underwriters for the offering.
AN2 had raised $80m in a March 2021 series B round, it announced in January this year. RA Capital Management led that round, which included BVF Partners, Surveyor Capital, Avidity Partners, Monashee Investment Management, Hatteras Venture Partners and unnamed returning investors.
Brii Bio invested $3m as part of a $12m series A round for the company in 2019 that was led by Mountain Group Partners and which also featured Anacor, which supplied $3.5m, Adjuvant Capital, MGC Venture Partners and BioRock Ventures. It owns an 8.4% stake according to the IPO filing, while Anacor holds 9.7%.
Other notable AN2 shareholders are Adjuvant’s Global Health Technology Fund (17.2%), RA Capital’s Healthcare Fund (14.2%), BVF Partners (6.5%) and MGC Venture Partners (5.3%).
