US-based gene therapy developer Design Therapeutics has filed for a $100m initial public offering that will allow SR One, the venture capital firm funded by pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline, to exit.
Spun out of University of Wisconsin-Madison, Design is developing small molecule drugs known as gene targeted chimeras to treat inherited nucleotide repeat expansion diseases.
The company will use the IPO proceeds to advance product candidates for myotonic dystrophy type-1 and Friedreich ataxia, an inherited disease that affects the nervous system, through phase 1 clinical trials.
Design emerged from stealth in March 2020 having secured $45m in a series A round led by a $15m investment from SR One and backed by Cormorant Asset Management, Quan Capital and WestRiver Group.
Logos Capital then led a $125m series B round in January this year that included all the series A investors, Janus Henderson Investors, RA Capital Management, Surveyor Capital, Wellington Management, Avoro Capital Advisors, Vivo Capital, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock and funds and accounts advised by T Rowe Price.
SR One is Design’s largest external shareholder and owns a 12.9% stake, followed by Quan Capital (11.3%) and Cormorant Asset Management (10.4%). Goldman Sachs, SVB Leerink and Piper Sandler are the underwriters for the offering, which is slated to take place on the Nasdaq Global Market.
