Visterra, a US-based biopharmaceutical company that counts pharmaceutical firm Merck among its investors, filed for a $69m initial public offering on Nasdaq on Tuesday.
Founded in 2007, Visterra is developing antibody-based therapies based on its Hierotope platform to treat infectious diseases caused by organisms with a high level of diversity among strains, frequent mutations and a resistance to treatment.
The proceeds from the offering will support phase 2b clinical trials for VIS410, a monoclonal antibody Visterra is developing for hospital-bound influenza patients. Additional capital will support the advancement of three other early-stage programs as well as other research and development.
Visterra has raised approximately $77m in debt and equity, with Merck investing $10m in a $30m series B round closed by the company in October 2014 that also included Polaris Partners, Flagship Ventures, and the Singapore state-backed Vertex Venture Management and V-Sciences Investment.
Merck owns a 12.3% stake in Visterra, while other prominent shareholders include Polaris (25%), Flagship (21.9%), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (8.4%) and V-Sciences Investment (8%).
The underwriters for the IPO are Leerink Partners, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Needham & Company and Wedbush Securities.