Catabasis Pharmaceuticals, a US-based biopharmaceutical company backed by biotechnology researcher MedImmune, has closed its initial public offering at $69m after the IPO’s underwriters fully exercised an option to acquire additional shares.
Catabasis issued five million shares on Nasdaq last week priced at $12 each. Underwriters Citigroup Global Markets, Cowen and Company, Oppenheimer and Wedbush PacGrow bought a further 750,000 shares on Tuesday, the day after Catabasis’ stock peaked at $13.49.
The company is developing drugs to treat rare diseases by simultaneously modulating several biological targets in related disease pathways. It plans to spend $45m of the IPO proceeds on clinical development of its two lead drug candidates.
Catabasis had raised just over $100m in venture funding prior to the offering. MedImmune, which has been a subsidiary of pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca since 2007, held a 10.2% stake in Catabasis before the underwriters bought the additional shares.
Other notable Catabasis shareholders include venture capital firms SV Life Sciences (a 17.8% stake), Clarus Ventures (17.2%), Advanced Technology Ventures (7.1%) and Lightstone Ventures (4.7%).