Pyxis Oncology, the US-based immuno-oncology treatment developer backed by pharmaceutical firms Bayer, Pfizer and Ipsen, has filed for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global market.
Founded in 2018, Pyxis is developing drugs to target difficult-to-treat forms of cancer, harnessing the immune system to kill tumours. It has a development pipeline of monoclonal antibodies and antibody drug conjugates, and three potential treatments are in Investigational New Drug-enabling studies.
The company has set a placeholder target of $100m for the IPO and the proceeds will be used to advance the three candidates towards the start of phase 1 clinical trials, as well as continuing research and development and boosting business development activities.
Pyxis raised $152m in a March 2021 series B round co-led by Arix Bioscience and RTW Investments that also featured Ipsen and Pfizer’s corporate venturing arm, Pfizer Ventures, as well as Bayer’s investment subsidiary, Leaps by Bayer.
The round was filled out by as Longwood Fund, Perceptive Advisors, RA Capital Management, BVF Parnters, Janus Henderson Investors, Cormorant Asset Management, Surveyor Capital, Laurion Capital, Logos Capital, HBM Healthcare Investments, Tekla Capital Management, Agent Capital and LifeSci Venture Partners.
The company had previously hauled in $22m through a series A round led by Leaps by Bayer in July 2019 with participation from Ipsen, Longwood and Agent Capital.
Pfizer stands as the largest Pyxis shareholder, with a 12.9% stake, followed by Bayer (12.3%), Perceptive Life Sciences Master Fund (6.9%), Arix Bioscience and RTW Investments (both with 6.4%), RA Capital (5.8%) and Longwood Fund (5.5%).
Bank of America Securities, Jefferies, Credit Suisse, William Blair and LifeSci Capital are underwriting the offering.
