Nabriva Therapeutics, an Austria-based biopharmaceutical company backed by pharmaceutical firm Novartis, filed for an initial public offering in the US on Thursday that could raise up to $92m.
Founded in 2006, Nabriva is developing anti-infective treatments for serious diseases, and its lead drug candidate, Lefamulin, is an antibiotic that will treat pneumonia.
The company plans to use the IPO proceeds to complete clinical development of lefamulin for the treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, and to gain marketing approval for the product in the US and Europe.
The proposed IPO follows Nabriva’s closing of a $120m series B round in April this year featuring Novartis Venture Fund, an investment subsidiary of Novartis, as well as Vivo Capital, OrbiMed, EcoR1 Capital, Boxer Capital, HBM Partners, Phase4 Partners, Wellcome Trust and Global Life Science Ventures (GLSV).
Nabriva has raised approximately $192m in funding in total. Novartis holds a 5.4% stake in the company, but its largest shareholders are HBM, which owns 17.9%, and Vivo, which holds 17.8%.
Other notable shareholders include OrbiMed (16.1%), Phase4 (14.3%), Wellcome Trust (11%) and Omega Fund (8.3%).
Leerink Partners and RBC Capital Markets are acting as joint bookrunners for the offering. Needham & Company and Wedbush Securities are the other underwriters.