Catabasis Pharmaceuticals, a US-based developer of treatments for inflammatory and metabolic diseases backed by pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, raised $60m in its initial public offering on Thursday.
The company priced its shares at $12 and issued five million shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange. As of the time of writing, its shares have climbed to $13.50.
Founded in 2008, Catabasis is developing therapies for conditions such as diabetes. The treatments are based on fatty acids including omega-3, a molecule which naturally occurs in fish such as salmon.
Catabasis will use $45m of the proceeds to fund the clinical development of two of its drug candidates.
The company previously secured $101.6m in equity funding and $2m in debt financing, according to press releases and regulatory filings.
MedImmune Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of AstraZeneca subsidiary MedImmune, contributed to a $39.6m series A round in 2010 along with Clarus Ventures, SV Life Sciences and Advanced Technology Ventures, as well as an $8m extension in 2011.
MedImmune Ventures also participated in a $32.4m series B round in 2013 Clarus, SV, Advanced Technology Ventures and Lightstone Ventures. It held a 14.8% stake ahead of the offering, which has been diluted to 10.2%.
Other investors in Catabasis include SV Life Sciences, which retained a 17.8% stake post-IPO, Clarus Ventures (17.2%), Advanced Technology Ventures (7.1%) and Lightstone Ventures (4.7%).
Citigroup Global Markets and Cowen and Company served as joint book-running managers for the offering, while Oppenheimer and Wedbush PacGrow served as co-managers.
The underwriters have been granted a 30-day option to purchase an additional 750,000 shares, which would boost the size of the IPO to $63.5m.
Unnamed stockholders have indicated they may purchase a total of $15m in shares from the underwriters as part of the offering, though no details have been revealed.