Israel-based oncology drug developer Ayala Pharmaceuticals has filed to raise up to $50m in a US initial public offering that would enable pharmaceutical firm Novartis and insurance provider Harel to exit.
Ayala is working on small molecule therapeutics for cancer and will put the IPO proceeds toward advancing its two lead candidates, AL101 and AL102, through phase 2 clinical trials for a glandular cancer known as adenoid cystic carcinoma, in addition to breast cancer and leukaemia.
The offering will follow $47m in funding across two rounds. Ayala raised $17m in an April 2018 series A round led by life sciences fund Israel Biotech Fund and backed by Harel and venture capital firm aMoon.
The company added $30m in a May 2019 series B round led by Novartis that included Harel, Israel Biotech Fund, aMoon and financial services firm SBI, which took part through its biotech-focused vehicle SBI JI Innovation Fund.
Israel Biotech Fund is Ayala’s largest shareholder, with a 35.1% stake, followed by aMoon (25.1%), Harel (18.5%) and Novartis (7.3%). Pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb owns 6.5% of its shares having licensed AL101 to the company.
Citigroup Global Markets, Jefferies, Oppenheimer and Raymond James & Associates have been appointed underwriters for the offering, which is set to take place on the Nasdaq Global Market.
