Israel-based medical diagnostics company Check-Cap has filed for an initial public offering in the US that could raise up to $15m, and is also seeking $12m from a private placement.
Check-Cap is working on an ingestible imaging capsule that uses low-dose X-rays to screen for colorectal cancer. It raised $12m in debt from a private placement in October this year, after securing $9.3m in equity funding in 2011.
The company plans to invest the proceeds from the IPO and the placement in research and development, securing regulatory approval for its product in the US and building out its manufacturing capabilities.
Venture capital firm Pontifax is Check-Cap’s largest shareholder, with a 25.3% stake, while pharmaceutical Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group owns 13.9%.
Additional backers include BXR Group, which holds a 9.8% share in Check-Cap, Van Leer Group Foundation (8.5%), Biomedix Incubator (6.1%), Jacobs Investment Company (5.4%), New York Private Bank & Trust Corporation (5.3%) and Counterpoint Ventures (5.2%).
Chardan Capital Markets and Maxim Group are the joint book-running managers for the IPO, which will take place on the NASDAQ Capital Market.