Frequency Therapeutics, a US-based regenerative medicine developer that counts real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities among its investors, set the terms for its initial public offering yesterday.
The company plans to issue 6.7 million shares priced between $14 and $16, and will raise between $93.8m and approximately $107m if it floats at the bottom and top of its range respectively.
Founded in 2015, Frequency is developing small molecule treatments that are intended to fix the damage caused by degenerative diseases by activating progenitor cells that then form functional tissue.
The IPO proceeds will be put together with the company’s cash on hand and spend about $90m completing a phase 2a clinical trial for its lead drug candidate, FX-322, which is being developed to treat sensorineural hearing loss.
An additional $32m will fund the development of additional candidates using Frequency’s Progenitor Cell Activation (PCA) platform, including a candidate to treat multiple sclerosis.
The offering comes in the wake of some $147m of funding including $32m in a 2017 series A round featuring Alexandria Real Estate Equities, CoBro Ventures, Morningside Ventures, Emigrant Capital and Korean Investment Partnership.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities unit Alexandria Venture Investments subsequently joined CoBro, Emigrant Capital, Korean Investment Partnership, Taiwania Capital Management, Axil Capital, Yonjin Capital and Polaris Founders Capital for a $42m series B round in January this year.
Frequency added $62m in a July 2019 series C round led by Perceptive Advisors and backed by Mizuho Securities Principal Investment – part of investment bank Mizuho Securities – Polaris Founders Capital, Taiwania Capital, Axil Capital, CoBro, RTW Investments and Deerfield Management.
Although the company has not revealed the size of the stakes held by its investors, it did disclose that the only shareholders to own stakes worth 5% or more are Perceptive Advisors’ Life Sciences Master Fund and Taiwania Capital.
JP Morgan Securities, Goldman Sachs and Cowen and Company are the underwriters for the IPO, which is set to take place on the Nasdaq Global Market. They will have the 30-day option to buy an extra 1 million shares.
