US-based immuno-oncology therapy developer Armo BioSciences, which is backed by pharmaceutical company Celgene and GV, the corporate venturing unit formerly known as Google Ventures, has filed for an $86.3m initial public offering.
Armo is working on drugs that will combat cancer by triggering the human body’s immune system to fight off tumours. They are designed to work in tandem with chemotherapies and checkpoint inhibitors as well as other immunotherapies.
The company will use the proceeds from the offering to advance its lead drug candidate, AM0010, which replicates a human immune cell growth factor.
The cash will fund a phase 3 clinical trial of AM0010 for a type of pancreatic cancer known as pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, and phase 2b trials of it for non-small cell lung cancer.
Armo has received approximately $167m in equity funding since it was founded in 2012, the first $50m of which came from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), OrbiMed, DAG Ventures and NanoDimension across rounds in 2013 and 2014.
GV, a subsidiary of internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet, invested $7.5m as part of a $49.5m round in February 2016 that also featured Celgene, KPCB, OrbiMed, DAG Ventures, NanoDimension, HBM Healthcare Investments, Industrial Investors Group and private funds advised by Clough Capital Partners.
The company pulled in a further $67.6m in an August 2017 series C-1 round led by Qiming Venture Partners that included both GV, which provided another $7.5m, and Celgene.
Decheng Capital, KPCB, OrbiMed, DAG Ventures, NanoDimension, Sequoia Capital, Quan Capital, RTW Investments, HBM Healthcare Investments and funds advised by Clough Capital Partners also took part in the 2017 round.
Celgene’s share of Armo is lower than 5% but GV, like Decheng, owns 5.6%. KPCB holds a 19.6% stake and other notable investors include OrbiMed (18.9%), DAG Ventures (11.1%) and NanoDimension (10.1%).
The joint book-running managers for the IPO are Jefferies, Leerink Partners and BMO Capital Markets while Robert W. Baird is co-manager.