Milestone Pharmaceuticals, a Canada-based cardiovascular therapy developer backed by pharmaceutical firm Novo, raised $82.5m in its initial public offering yesterday after pricing its shares at $15.00 each.
The company issued 5.5 million shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, in the middle of the IPO’s $14 to $16 range, valuing it at $354m. Its shares briefly reached a peak of $16.42 before closing at $15.37 on its first day of trading yesterday.
Founded in 2003, Milestone is working on a nasal spray called Etripamil to address a rapid heart condition known as paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT).
PSVT leaves patients with symptoms such as palpitations, sweating, chest pressure or pain, shortness of breath, sudden onset of fatigue, lightheadedness, fainting and anxiety. Milestone is currently recruiting patients for a phase 3 trial for the candidate that is slated to take place later this year.
The company also hopes to initiate a phase 2 trial for Etripamil in another rapid heart condition, atrial fibrillation, in the second half of 2019, and a phase 2 study in angina in 2020 as a proof-of-concept for the wider use of the spray in cardiovascular conditions.
Milestone will use the IPO proceeds and its existing cash to support the phase 3 trial in PSVT with $85m. It will put $20m towards pre-commercialisation activities for the candidate, and use $6m for the trials in atrial fibrillation and angina.
The offering comes after more than $167m in equity funding . Biopharmceutical investment firm RTW Investments led Milestone’s last round, an $80m series D in October 2018 that included Novo.
Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, Boxer Capital, Forbion, Domain Associates, BDC Capital, Pappas Capital, Go Capital, Fonds de solidarité FTQ and funds managed by Tekla Capital Management also contributed to the series D round.
Novo had previously led a $55m series C round for the company in 2017, and was joined by BDC Capital, Domain Associates, Pappas Capital, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Forbion, Go Capital and funds managed by Tekla Capital Management.
RTW Investments is Milestone’s largest shareholder, with a 15.7% stake that has been diluted to 12.1% in the offering, followed by Novo (9.9% post-IPO), Fonds de solidarité FTQ (9.7%), BDC Capital (9.2%), Venrock (7.7%), Domain Associates (7.2%), Pappas Capital (5.6%) and Forbion (5%).
Jefferies, Cowen and Company and Piper Jaffray are joint book-running managers for the offering, while Oppenheimer is lead manager. They have the 30-day option to buy an additional 825,000 shares, boosting the size of the IPO to $88.2m.
