Passage Bio, a US-based genetic medicine developer backed by conglomerate Access Industries and pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, raised $216m in its initial public offering today.
The company is issuing 12 million shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market priced at the top of the IPO’s $16 to $18 range, having first increased the number of shares from 7.4 million to 10 million and then adding a further 2 million.
Founded in 2017, Passage Bio is developing genetic therapies for rare, life-threatening central nervous system disorders that currently have limited or no approved treatment options.
Proceeds from the offering will go to phase 1/2 trials for three drug candidates aimed at frontotemporal dementia, a lysosomal storage condition known as Krabbe disease, and genetically inherited brain and spinal cord disorder GM1 gangliosidosis, respectively.
The cash will also allow Passage Bio to advance its pipeline and select additional candidates. It had raised a total of $226m in funding ahead of the offering.
Access Industries subsidiary Access Biotechnology invested $30m to lead the company’s last round, a $110m series B round in September 2019 that also featured Eli Lilly unit Lilly Asia Ventures.
The corporates were joined in the series B by OrbiMed, New Leaf Venture Partners, Vivo Capital, Frazier Healthcare Partners, Versant Ventures, Highline Capital Management, Boxer Capital, Logos Capital and Sphera Funds Management.
OrbiMed had led Passage Bio’s $116m series A round seven months earlier, investing alongside Lilly Asia Ventures, Vivo Capital, Frazier Healthcare Partners, Versant Ventures and New Leaf Venture Partners.
The company’s largest shareholder ahead of the offering was OrbiMed, which owned a 19.6% stake, followed by Versant (14.8%), Frazier (13.9%), Lilly Asia Ventures (7.6%), New Leaf and Vivo (7% each), co-founder James Wilson (6.9%) and Access Industries (6.5%).
JP Morgan Securities, Goldman Sachs and Cowen and Company are joint book-running managers for the offering while Chardan is lead manager. The underwriters have a 30-day option to buy up to 1.8 million more shares, potentially boosting the IPO’s size to more than $248m.
The original version of this article appeared on out sister site, Global University Venturing.