Century Therapeutics, a US-based cancer treatment developer backed by pharmaceutical and chemical group Bayer, has filed to raise up to $100m in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
Founded in 2018 and incubated by venture capital firm Versant Ventures, Century has built an allogeneic cell therapy platform to support the development of cancer immunotherapies. Its lead drug candidate, CNTY-101, is being developed to treat lymphoma, a type of cancer that develops in the immune system.
The IPO proceeds will fund an investigational new drug (IND) application for CNTY-101 and preclinical activities ahead of a planned phase 1 clinical trial. It will also fund research and development as well as the development of manufacturing facilities.
Investment firm Casdin Capital led Century’s $160m series C round in March 2021, with participation from Bayer’s corporate venturing unit, Leaps by Bayer, as well as financial services and investment group Fidelity and sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority.
The round also featured Versant Ventures, Avidity Partners, Federated Hermes’ Kaufmann Funds, Logos Capital, Marshall Wace, Octagon Capital, OrbiMed and RA Capital Management. Bayer invested $25m in Century through the round, according to the IPO filing.
Century had emerged from stealth in mid-2019 with $250m from a round led by Leaps by Bayer, which invested alongside Versant Ventures and Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics, a biotechnology subsidiary of optics and medical engineering group Fujifilm.
Bayer committed up to $215m in financing through the round and has so far provided $145m, according to the filing.
Versant Ventures is the largest shareholder in Century, with a 30.8% stake, followed by Bayer which holds 27.2%, Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics (15.9%) and Casdin Capital (5.6%). JP Morgan, BofA Securities, SVB Leerink, and Piper Sandler have been appointed as underwriters for the offering.