Codiak Biosciences, a US-based exosome therapeutics developer backed by life science real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities, has withdrawn its plans for an $86.3m initial public offering.
Douglas Williams, chief executive of Codiak, cited unfavourable market conditions for the company’s decision. Codiak had filed for an IPO in April 2019 and was hoping to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
Founded in 2015, Codiak is working on therapies for cancer, immune-based diseases, metabolic and fibrotic disorders, neurodegenerative conditions and rare diseases.
The company’s approach relies on engineering exosomes – extracellular vesicles capable of modifying cell behaviour – to target the inside of cells that are considered undruggable by other methods.
Codiak was co-founded by venture capital firms Arch Venture Partners and Flagship Pioneering to commercialise research conducted at University of Texas’ MD Anderson Cancer Center.
The company had hoped to put proceeds towards a phase 1/2 trial of a treatment for refractory cancer, exoSting, and a phase 1/2 trial of another cancer candidate, exoIL-12.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities contributed to Codiak’s $76.5m series C round in 2017 through its investment unit, Alexandria Venture Investments, together with Fidelity Management and Research (FMR), Qatar Investment Authority, Alaska Permanent Fund, Arch Venture Partners, Flagship Pioneering, Boxer Capital, Sirona Capital, EcoR1 Capital and Casdin Capital.
Arch and Flagship previously co-led a $61m series B round for the company in 2016, with participation from Alexandria Venture Investments, FMR and Alexa Permanent Fund. Arch and Flagship also co-led its $31m series A round in 2015.
Arch was Codiak’s largest shareholder at the time of the IPO filing, holding a 28.4% stake. Codiak’s notable shareholders also include Flagship (19%), FMR (14.2%) and MD Anderson Cancer Center (6.7%). It had hired Jefferies, William Blair and Evercore as underwriters for the offering.
