Arsanis, a US-based immunotherapy developer that counts internet and technology group Alphabet among its investors, has filed to raise up to $57.5m in an initial public offering.
Arsanis is working on monoclonal antibody immunotherapies that will treat serious infectious diseases. Its lead drug candidate, ASN100, is being developed to treat Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia and is in phase 2 clinical trials.
The proceeds will fund clinical development of ASN100 for Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia and other disease indications, and work on the company’s pipeline of preclinical candidates.
The offering will follow $95m of debt and equity financing, $45.5m of which came in an April 2017 series D round featuring Alphabet’s GV unit as well as Alexandria Venture Investments and EMBL Ventures, subsidiaries of real estate trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities and research institution European Molecular Biology Laboratory respectively.
The round was led by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and included OrbiMed, Polaris Venture Partners, SV Health Investors, NeoMed, and Anna Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation.
GV owns a 5.9% stake in Arsanis. Its largest shareholders are Polaris, SV Life Sciences and OrbiMed (17.8% each), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (9.4%), NeoMed (7.4%) and Section 32, the VC fund formed by GV founder Bill Maris (5.9%).
Citigroup Global Markets, Cowen and Company and Piper Jaffray have been appointed underwriters for the offering, which will take place on the Nasdaq Global Market.