US-based biopharmaceutical company Civitas Therapeutics filed for an $86.2m initial public offering yesterday, shortly after closing a $55m series C round on Monday.
The funding round featured pharmaceutical company Alkermes, Adage Capital Management, OrbiMed Advisors, Partner Fund Management, Rock Springs Capital Sofinnova Ventures, Bay City Capital, Canaan Partners, Fountain Healthcare Partners, Longitude Capital, RA Capital, and Wellington Management.
Civitas is developing treatments for diseases such as Parkinson’s disease using technology that can deliver large quantities of drugs through an inhaler.
The funds, together with the projected IPO proceeds, will support a Phase 3 clinical trial for its lead product, CVT-301, which can provide relief from motor fluctuations associated with Parkinson’s. The trial is scheduled to commence in early 2015.
Alkermes, which holds a 7% stake in Civitas, previously contributed to the $38m series B round raised by the company in September 2013, which also included Fountain Healthcare, Longitude, Canaan, Bay City and RA Capital. Civitas has now raised approximately $121m in equity funding.
The major shareholders in the company are Longitude, which owns a 19.9% share, Canaan (18.9%), Fountain Healthcare (10.2%) and Bay City (10.5%).
J.P. Morgan Securities, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Cowen and Company, and Oppenheimer are the underwriters for the offering.