AAA Minerva Surgical swerves toward public markets

Minerva Surgical swerves toward public markets

US-based medical device maker Minerva Surgical filed on Monday for an initial public offering that could allow pharmaceutical firm Novo and medical equipment manufacturer Boston Scientific Corporation to exit.

The company has set a $100m placeholder target for the IPO, which is set to take place on the Nasdaq Global Stock Market. JP Morgan, Piper Sandler, UBS Investment Bank and SVB Leerink are the underwriters for the offering.

Founded in 2008, Minerva is focused on the development of a range of minimally invasive medical devices for treating abnormal uterine bleeding. Its main product is an endometrial ablation system supplemented by three other devices which were added to its product line in 2020.

The company reported $26m in revenue and a $29m net loss for the six months ending June 2021. It had recorded $11.9m in revenue and $4.6m net loss in the same period the year before.

The filing comes after Minerva closed a $65.2m convertible note round in May 2020, the IPO filing stated, with Novo, New Enterprise Associates, CVF, Versant Ventures and Vivo Ventures all investing. Boston Scientific acquired shares the same month through an asset purchase agreement.

Minerva had raised $16.7m from undisclosed investors in December 2016, according to a regulatory filing, having also collected $6m in 2010, $26.2m the following year, $19m in 2012, $25m in 2014 and $15m in January 2016, according to separate documents.

Venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates is the company’s largest shareholder, with a 38.6% stake, followed by CVF (10%), Vivo Ventures (9.8%), Versant Ventures (7.5%), Novo (6.5%) and Boston Scientific (6%).