Imara, a US-based blood disease drug developer backed by pharmaceutical firms Lundbeck and Pfizer as well as life science real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities, has confidentially filed for an initial public offering.
US regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission is currently reviewing the draft prospectus. The company has not revealed details of how much it hopes to raise or a timeline for the prospective offering.
Imara is working on treatments for rare inherited genetic disorders of the haemoglobin such as sickle cell disease (SCD), a group of conditions that cause red blood cells to turn into a rigid, sickle-like shape that may block small blood vessels.
Symptoms of SCD include severe episodes of pain, an increased risk of serious infections and anaemia. The company was spun off from orphan drug accelerator Cydan Development in 2016.
Imara’s lead asset, IMR-687, has shown positive preliminary results from a phase 2a trial. The same drug is also in preclinical development for the treatment of a mild and a severe form of thalassemia, a group of conditions that causes anaemia.
The company has raised $94m in funding to date. Lundbeckfonden Ventures, Pfizer Ventures and Alexandria Venture Investments, respective corporate venturing subsidiaries of Lundbeck, Pfizer and Alexandria Real Estate Equities, backed its $63m series B round in March 2019.
OrbiMed and Arix Bioscience co-led the round, which included RA Capital, Rock Springs Capital, New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Bay City Capital.
Lundbeckfonden Ventures, Pfizer Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, NEA and Bay City Capital had also contributed to a $31m series A round for the company in 2016.
