Menlo Therapeutics, a US-based pruritus treatment developer that counts pharmaceutical firms Novo and Merck & Co as backers, has filed for a $97.8m initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Market.
The company is working on a therapy called serlopitant, which could be the first to get approval in the US to combat pruritus, an itch that is associated with skin conditions like psoriasis, atopic dermatitis or prurigo nodularis.
The IPO proceeds will go to complete phase 2 clinical trials of serlopitant for atopic dermatitis and psoriasis-based pruritus, and as a treatment for a cough-based condition known as refractory chronic cough.
Additional capital will support phase 3 clinical development of serlopitant for pruritus associated with prurigo nodularis, and for development and manufacturing-related costs. The trial will also trigger a $3m payment to Merck, which licensed the drug to Menlo in 2012.
Menlo has raised $109.8m in venture capital across three rounds, including $50.5m in a July 2017 series C round led by VenBio that included Novo, F-Prime Capital, Rock Springs Capital, Aisling Capital, Bay City Capital, Vivo Capital, Presidio Partners and Remeditex.
Vivo Capital, Presidio Partners, Remeditex Ventures and F-Prime Capital Partners Healthcare Fund had previously supplied $45m of series B funding for Menlo in late 2015.
Remeditex and the Presidio-founded Velocity Pharmaceutical Holdings had already invested $14.3m in the company from 2011 through mid-2015.
Novo’s stake in Menlo is lower than 5% but Merck holds an 8.3% share of the company. Other notable shareholders include Vivo (24.9%), Remeditiex (17.8%), Predisio (16.5%), VenBio (8%) and F-Prime (7.5%).
Jefferies, Piper Jaffray, Guggenheim Securities and JMP Securities have been appointed underwriters for the offering.