Principia Biopharma, a US-based immunology and oncology therapy developer that counts pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) as an investor, has raised just over $106m in its initial public offering.
The IPO consisted of 6.25 million shares issued on the Nasdaq Global Select Market priced at $17 each, at the top of the offering’s $15 to $17 range. The company’s stock opened at $25.66 on its first day of trading on Friday and closed at $32.65.
Principia is working on oral small molecule medicines to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. It will put $50m of the IPO proceeds toward completing a phase 2 clinical trial for a product candidate called PRN1008, for a skin disorder known as pemphigus.
Additional proceeds will fund part of a phase 3 trial for pemphigus while $4m will support a phase 1 trial for a cancer-focused candidate called PRN1371 and $2m will go to pharmaceutical firm Sanofi as part of a licensing deal for a third candidate, PRN2246.
The company had raised more than $127m in venture funding prior to the IPO, according to the prospectus, including a $50m round last month that included GSK subsidiary SR One.
Cormorant Asset Management, HBM Healthcare Investments, RTW Investments and Samsara BioCapital co-led the round, which included New Leaf Venture Partners, OrbiMed Advisors, Morgenthaler Venture Partners, Sofinnova Ventures and Baker Bros Advisors.
Principia had raised $27.5m in series A funding from investors including SR One, OrbiMed, Morgenthaler Ventures, New Leaf and Mission Bay Capital before adding $50m in a 2014 series B round led by Sofinnova Ventures that included all the series A backers.
SR One, like New Leaf and OrbiMed, owned a 14.25% stake in the company that was diluted to 10.4% in the offering. Principia’s other notable investors are Morgenthaler (9.7% post-IPO), Sofinnova (7.8%), Baker Bros (7.4%) and Cormorant (4.8%).
BofA Merrill Lynch, Leerink Partners and Wells Fargo Securities are joint book-running managers for the IPO while Baird is lead manager.
The underwriters have a 30-day option to buy another $15.9m of shares, while undisclosed existing shareholders expressed interest in buying “at least” $26m in additional shares in the IPO, according to the filing. The two together would lift its size to $148m.