US-based neurological disease treatment developer Ovid Therapeutics has filed for an $86.3m initial public offering that would provide exits to pharmaceutical companies Takeda and Sanofi.
Ovid is working on drugs to treat rare neurological disorders, and the IPO proceeds will fund a phase 2 clinical trial for its lead candidate, OV-101, for adults suffering from a neurological disorder called Angelman syndrome.
Additional capital will support a phase 1 trial for OV-101 in adolescent Angelman syndrome patients, as well as a phase 1b/2a trial for another candidate, OV935, in patients with epileptic encephalopathies.
Takeda owns 9.1% of Ovid’s shares, after acquiring an equity stake of undisclosed size in as part of a development and commercialisation agreement in January 2017, the same month Ovid raised $25.9m from unnamed investors.
Shira Capital, a vehicle for the brother-in-law of Ovid CEO Jeremy M. Levin, holds a 5% stake having invested $2m in 2014. Ovid has raised $115m in funding altogether.
Interestingly, none of the participants in Ovid’s $75m series B round, closed in 2015 with participation from Sanofi’s corporate venturing unit, Sanofi-Genzyme BioVentures, have stakes sized at 5% or higher.
Fidelity Management and Research Company led the series B, which included Cowen Private Investments, Tekla Capital Management, Sphera Global Healthcare Fund, Jennison Associates, Redmile Group, Cormorant Asset Management and DoubleLine Equity Healthcare Fund.
Citigroup Global Markets, Cowen and Company, William Blair & Company and JMP Securities have been appointed underwriters for the offering.