GenSight Biologics, a France-based eye disease therapy developer that counts pharmaceutical firm Novartis as an investor, has withdrawn an initial public offering in the US citing market conditions.
The company originally filed for a $100m IPO on Nasdaq in July 2015, and as of early November had planned to issue 4.65 million shares priced at $13.00 to $15.00, which would equate to proceeds of between $60.5m and $69.8m. It subsequently postponed the offering later the same month.
GenSight is developing gene therapy-based treatments for mitochondrial and neurodegenerative eye diseases, and hopes in future to expand to diseases that affect the central nervous system.
The planned IPO would have followed $77.8m of funding over two rounds, with Novartis leading the company’s $41.8m series A round in 2013 through its Novartis Venture Fund unit, investing alongside Abingworth, Versant Ventures and Index Ventures.
Novartis Venture Fund returned for a $36m series B in July 2015 that also featured Abingworth, Versant, Index, Fidelity Management & Research, Jennison Associates, Sphera Global HealthCare Fund, Perceptive Advisors and HealthCap.
Novartis will remain GenSight’s largest shareholder, with a 20.4% stake, while other prominent shareholders include Abingworth and Versant (12.7% each), Fidelity (9.4%) and Vitavest (7%).
Gensight’s withdrawal from a Nasdaq IPO follows a similar decision by Denmark-based biotechnology company Bavarian Nordic late last week. Bavarian Nordic had filed for an $86.3m offering on Nasdaq in January this year.