Decibel Therapeutics, a US-based hearing loss drug developer backed by corporates Alphabet, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Regeneron, priced its shares at $18 to raise more than $127m in its IPO on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on Thursday.
The company issued slightly more than 7 million shares and beat its original target of $75m. Shares briefly peaked at $24.39 before dropping back down and closing at $18.03 on the first day of trading on Friday.
Decibel is developing gene therapies that can restore hearing and hearing balance.
Proceeds have been allocated to advancing a drug candidate aimed at profound hearing loss through preclinical studies and into the clinic. Money will also support the development of additional programmes and continued platform development.
SR One, the corporate venture capital arm of GSK, backed a $52m series A round in 2015 that also featured Third Rock Ventures.
Alphabet’s GV unit injected an undisclosed sum in 2017, before Regeneron invested $25m later that same year as part of a strategic agreement.
Regeneron, GV and SR One all returned for a $55m series C round in 2018 that also featured Third Rock, Bessemer Trust, Schroder Adveq, Foresite Capital, SCubed Capital, Longevity Fund and unnamed institutional investors.
Decibel went on to raise $82m in a series D round in November 2020 that was led by OrbiMed and again attracted GV, SR One and Third Rock Ventures.
The series D round also featured BlackRock Health Sciences, Casdin Capital, Surveyor Capital, Janus Henderson, Samsara BioCapital, Foresite Capital, S-Cubed Capital, Sobrato Capital and unnamed others.
OrbiMed remains the largest investor in Decibel (13.5% post-IPO), followed by Third Rock (12.9%), Regeneron (8.6%), GV (6.7%), Surveyor Capital owner Citadel (4.5%) and GSK (4.3%).
Citigroup Global Markets, SVB Leerink, BMO Capital Markets and Barclays Capital are the underwriters for the offering, and they have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1 million shares.
