Constellation Pharmaceuticals, a US-based immuno-oncology drug developer that counts pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline as an investor, has raised $60m in an initial public offering, pricing 4 million shares at $15 each.
The company floated on the Nasdaq Global Select Market and its shares closed at $11.89 on Friday afternoon. It had originally planned to issue 5.34 million shares priced between $14 and $16 each.
Constellation is developing small-molecule therapies that will treat cancers associated with drug resistance or gene expression. They are intended to accelerate anti-tumour activity by modulating gene expression in tumour and immune cells.
The company will put $32m of the proceeds into a phase 1b/2 trial of its lead drug candidate, CPI-1205, for metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer, and another $20m into a phase 2 trial for solid tumours.
A further $28m will support clinical development of a second candidate, CPI-0610, to treat a bone marrow disorder called myelofibrosis, $7m toward a third, CPI-0209, and $19m will be used for development of preclinical candidates.
Constellation has raised about $229m since being founded in 2008, closing a $52m round featuring GlaxoSmithKline subsidiary SR One, Column Group, Third Rock Ventures, Venrock and Altitude Life Science Ventures in 2011.
The first four returned for a $55.8m round co-led by Topspin Partners and the regents of the University of California four years later, and a $100m round in April 2018.
Investment group Fidelity Management and Research, University of California Investment Office, Topspin Partners, Cormorant Asset Management, Deerfield Management, Hillhouse Capital, NS Investment, OrbiMed, Casdin Capital and Sirona Capital also backed the 2018 round.
SR One owned less than 5% of Constellation’s shares prior to the offering. Its largest shareholders are Column Group (18.3% post-IPO), Third Rock (10.7%), Venrock (9.3%), the regents of the University of California (8.4%), Topspin (6.9%) and Cormorant (4.9%).
Joint book-runners JP Morgan, Jefferies and BMO Capital Markets and co-manager Oppenheimer have the 30-day option to buy up to 600,000 additional shares, increasing the IPO’s size to $69m.