US-based immune-mediated disease therapy developer Provention Bio has filed for a $50m initial public offering on the Nasdaq Capital Market that will allow medical group Johnson & Johnson to exit.
Provention is developing a pipeline of drug candidates that have gone through clinical testing at other companies, only to have been underdeveloped or deprioritised. Its focus is on autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, such as Crohn’s disease, type 1 diabetes (T1D), lupus and ulcerative colitis.
The IPO proceeds will support a phase 2a clinical trial for Crohn’s disease treatment called PRV-6527, as well as clinical development of ulcerative colitis candidate PRV-300, T1D candidate PRV-031, vaccine PRV-101 and lupus treatment PRV-3279.
The company’s only disclosed funding came in a private placement that closed at approximately $28.5m in June 2017, in which Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC invested.
Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC is Provention’s largest shareholder, with an 11.2% stake, Provention having licensed PRV-6527 and PRV-300 from Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen.
Vaccine developer Vactech, which licensed PRV-101 to Provention, holds a 9.4% share in the company, while biopharmaceutical company MacroGenics, which revealed last week it had licensed PRV-031 and PRV-3279, owns 10.2%.
Other notable investors include venture finance provider MDB Capital Group (10.8%), which is also the sole underwriter for the offering, and entrepreneur Peter A. Appel (5.6%).