US-based mitochondrial disease drug developer Reneo Pharmaceuticals has filed for a $100m initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Market that would enable pharmaceutical firms Novo and Lundbeck to exit.
Reneo is working on therapeutics for rare genetic mitochondrial diseases and plans to put $20m of the IPO proceeds into completing a phase 2b clinical trial for a drug candidate called REN001 for primary mitochondrial myopathies, a condition associated with the body’s mitochondria.
The company will also put $15m each into phase 1b trials for REN001 in long-chain fatty acid oxidation disorders and a rare muscle disorder known as McArdle disease.
Lundbeckfonden Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of Lundbeck, took part in a $50m series A round for the company in mid-2019 that was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and which included RiverVest Venture Partners and Pappas Capital.
The series A investors all returned for Reneo’s $95m series B round in December 2020, which was led by Abingworth and also backed by Novo subsidiary Novo Ventures, which invested $12.5m, as well as Rock Springs Capital, Aisling Capital and Amzak Health.
Reneo’s largest shareholders are NEA, which owns a 22.8% stake, Novo (15.3%), RiverVest (12.2%), Lundbeckfond (9.4%) and Abingworth (9.2%). The underwriters for the offering are Jefferies, SVB Leerink and Piper Sandler.
