Ra Pharmaceuticals, a US-based rare blood disorder treatment developer backed by pharmaceutical companies Novo, Novartis and Amgen, set the terms yesterday for an initial public offering that could reach $81.2m.
Ra intends to offer 5.8 million shares on Nasdaq priced between $12 and $14. Undisclosed existing shareholders have expressed interest in buying $30m of shares in the offering.
Underwriters Credit Suisse, Jefferies, BMO Capital Markets and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey will have an option to acquire another 870,000 shares, which would increase the size of the IPO to $93.4m
Founded in 2008, Ra has built a peptide chemistry platform that forms the basis for therapeutics it is developing to treat serious diseases caused by excessive activation of the complement system, which forms part of the immune system.
About $33m of the proceeds from the offering will be used to advance Ra’s lead product candidate, RA101495, a treatment for a blood disorder called paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, through phase 2 clinical trials.
Additional funds will support clinical trials for RA101495 in two more conditions – refractory generalised myasthenia gravis and lupus nephritis – and to advance pipeline programs.
The company has raised $85.5m in venture funding, including $58.5m from a July 2015 series B round co-led by Novo’s corporate venturing unit, Novo Ventures, RA Capital Management and Lightstone Ventures.
Novartis and Amgen’s investment subsidiaries, Novartis Venture Fund and Amgen Ventures, also took part in the round, as did Rock Springs Capital, Limulus Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Morgenthaler Ventures.
Novartis Venture Fund, Amgen Ventures, NEA and Morgenthaler Ventures had already provided $27m in series A funding to Ra, which was revealed when the company emerged from stealth in 2012.
NEA is Ra’s largest shareholder, with a 21.8% stake that will be cut to 15.6% in the offering. Other notable shareholders include Morgenthaler (12.3% post-IPO), Novartis subsidiary Novartis Bioventures (12.2%), Novo (8.8%), Lightstone and RA Capital (5.9% each).