AAA CVRx charges to $126m IPO

CVRx charges to $126m IPO

CVRx, a US-based medical device producer backed by pharmaceutical firms GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson as well as care provider DaVita HealthCare Partners, secured $126m in an upsized initial public offering on Wednesday.

The company issued 7 million shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on Wednesday priced at $18 each, above its $15 to $17 range. The shares closed at $26.07 yesterday, giving it a market capitalisation of $520m.

Founded in 2001, CVRx is marketing a medical device called Barostim Neo that is designed to treat heart failure by electrically activating the body’s cardiovascular reflex. It had initially filed to raise $75 through the IPO in June 2021.

The company will use approximately $75m of the IPO proceeds to grow its direct sales division and about $12m to finance research and development activities for Barostim Neo.

CVRx raised $50m in a July 2020 round co-led by Strategic Healthcare Investment Partners and Vensana Capital, which invested together with Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC and Action Potential Venture Capital, investment vehicles for Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline respectively.

That round also featured Hatteras Venture Partners, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Gilde Healthcare Partners.

JJDC led CVRx’s $93m series G round in, 2016, which was backed by Action Potential Venture Capital, NEA, Ysios Capital, Gilde Healthcare and Windham Venture Partners. The series G funding included a $35.3m commitment dependent on the completion of an undisclosed operational milestone.

Prior to the series G round, the company had received close $265m of equity and debt financing including a $42m round in 2013 that included JJDC, DaVita HealthCare Partners, Ysios Capital, NEA, BBT Fund and SightLine Partners.

JJDC also co-led an $84m round for CVRx with NEA in 2008, as well as a $65m round the previous year. BBT Fund, Thomas Weisel Healthcare Venture Partners, InterWest Partners, Frazier Healthcare Ventures and SightLine Partners took part in both those rounds.

JJDC, the largest CVRx shareholder, had its stake diluted from 31.8% to 21.4% through the offering. The company’s other notable shareholders include NEA, which now holds an 11.3% stake, Gilde Healthcare (8.4%), Vensana Capital (7.9%), Action Potential Venture Capital (4%) and Treo Ventures (3.8%).

Joint book-running managers JP Morgan, Piper Sandler and William Blair and lead manager Canaccord Genuity have a 30-day option to purchase just over 1 million additional shares, which would increase the size of the IPO to about $145m.