US-based genetic disease drug developer BridgeBio Pharma filed on Friday to raise up to $225m in an initial public offering that will enable insurance and financial services group AIG to exit.
BridgeBio is developing treatments for Mendelian diseases, which are caused by defects in a single specific gene, in addition to forms of cancer that are driven by genetic issues, and it has a 15-strong pipeline of drug candidates.
The IPO proceeds will fund product development, preclinical studies and clinical trials. BridgeBio has one drug candidate in phase 3 clinical trials, another in a phase 2/3 trial and a third in a phase 2 trial.
The company raised $6.6m in 2015 according to a securities filing, and added $6.9m in series B funding the following year and $33.1m in a round that closed in mid-2017, both of which were led by a vehicle owned by investment firm KKR, according to the IPO filing.
KKR and Viking Global Investors co-led a round for the company later the same year that was sized at $136m according to the offering, investing alongside AIG, Aisling Capital, Cormorant Capital, Perceptive Advisors and Janus Funds.
BridgeBio secured $299m in a January 2019 round that was co-led by $100m investments from KKR and Viking Global and backed by Perceptive Advisors, Aisling Capital, Cormorant Capital, Sequoia Capital, Hercules Capital and a “blue-chip long-term investor”.
KKR and Viking Global are the only shareholders in the company that own stakes sized at 5% or more according to the filing.
JP Morgan Securities, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, SVB Leerink, KKR Capital Markets, Piper Jaffray, Mizuho Securities USA, BMO Capital Markets and Raymond James are book-running managers for the IPO, which is slated to take place on the Nasdaq Global Market.
