US-based oncology drug developer IGM Biosciences, which is backed by catalysis technology provider Haldor Topsøe, filed for a $100m initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on Monday.
IGM is working on engineered Immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies intended to treat cancer, IgM antibodies binding more strongly to cancer cells than their Immunoglobulin G counterparts.
The company began life in 1993 as an IgM researcher called Palingen before rebranding in 2010 with an undisclosed amount of equity funding from Haldor Topsøe, proceeding to begin work on its IgM development platform.
The IPO proceeds will support a phase 1 clinical trial for IGM’s lead product candidate, IGM-2323, in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients. The company also plans to advance an engineered DR5 IgM antibody into phase 1 trials and beef up its manufacturing resources.
IGM revealed in the IPO filing that it raised $38.5m in series B funding between early 2016 and October 2018, almost all of which came from Haldor Topsøe, its majority shareholder.
Haldor Topsøe contributed $30m to the company’s $102m series C round, which it closed last month. Baker Bros invested $30m according to the filing, Redmile Group $25m and Janus Henderson Investors $15m, while Vivo Capital also participated.
Jefferies, Piper Jaffray, Guggenheim Securities and Stifel, Nicolaus & Company are the underwriters for the offering.
