Ideaya Biosciences, a US-based precision medicine developer backed by corporates Alphabet, Celgene, Novartis, Roche and WuXi AppTec, raised $50m on Friday in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
The company issued 5 million shares priced at $10.00 each, representing an offering downsized from a range of $13 to $15. Its shares had risen to $11.25 by the close on Friday, giving it a market cap of nearly $163m.
Founded in 2015, Ideaya is developing small molecule cancer therapies that target specific biomarkers. It also exploits synthetic lethality: the process of causing the simultaneous loss of function between two genes, which in turn leads to the destruction of cancer cells.
The majority of the IPO proceeds – between $27m and $32m – has been allocated to the phase 1/2 development of Ideaya’s lead asset, IDE196, a genetically-defined cancer therapy licensed from pharmaceutical firm Novartis.
Another $20m to $25m will fund the preclinical and clinical development of Ideaya’s synthetic lethality pipeline, including a phase 1 trial for MAT2A, a treatment for certain types of solid tumours.
Ideaya closed a $42.1m series A round in January 2018 backed by pharmaceutical firms Celgene and WuXi AppTec, the latter through its WuXi Healthcare Ventures unit, as well as Novartis Institute of Biomedical Research, the research arm of Novartis.
Alexandria Venture Investments, a subsidiary of life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities, also invested in the series A round alongside 5AM Ventures and Canaan Partners. Earlier reports had suggested Ideaya closed the round at $46m in 2016.
GV, a corporate venturing vehicle for internet technology conglomerate Alphabet, took part in Ideaya’s $94m series B round in March 2018 together with WuXi Healthcare Ventures, Celgene and Roche Venture Capital, the corporate venturing subsidiary of pharmaceutical firm Roche.
WuXi AppTec-backed investment firm 6 Dimensions Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, BVF Partners, Perceptive Advisors, Nextech Invest, Boxer Capital, Driehaus Capital Management, 5AM Ventures and Canaan Partners also backed the series B round.
Celgene holds a 5.8% stake in the company following the offering down from 7.8%, while WuXi Healthcare Ventures owns 5.4% and GV 3.9%. Its other notable shareholders include 5AM Ventures (13.9% post-IPO), Canaan Partners (11.6%), BVF Partners (5.4%), Perceptive Advisors’ Life Sciences Master Fund (4.8%) and Nextech Invest (4.6%).
JP Morgan Securities, Citigroup Global Markets and Jefferies are the book-running managers for the offering. They have been granted a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 750,000 shares, which would boost its size to $57.5m.
