Sana Biotechnology, a US-based stem cell therapy developer that counts internet and technology group Alphabet as an investor, has set a range for an initial public offering set to raise up to $345m.
The company plans to issue 15 million shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market priced between $20 and $23 each, having initially set a $150m target when it filed for the IPO last month.
Founded in 2018, Sana Bio is working on cell therapies able to hide from the body’s immune system to avoid triggering an undesired immune response. It closed more than $700m in funding from investors including Alphabet corporate venturing unit GV in June 2020.
Investment and financial services group F-Prime Capital unit joined venture capital firm Arch Venture Partners to supply $1.1m in convertible note financing for Sana Bio in September 2018, converting it as part of a $45.9m series A-1 round the following month.
The company then added $216m in series A-2 capital in February 2019, collecting another $7.9m in an October 2019 extension backed by F-Prime, Arch Venture Partners, Flagship Pioneering and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP).
F-Prime, Arch Venture Partners and CPP were among the investors that injected more than $435m in series B funding in June 2020.
Sana Bio’s backers also include Baillie Gifford, Alaska Permanent Fund, Public Sector Pension Investment Board, Bezos Expeditions, Omega Funds, Altitude Life Science Ventures and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
The IPO proceeds will be allocated to the development of the company’s in-vivo and ex-vivo cell engineering platforms, and preclinical trials for the drug candidates for each platform as well as supporting manufacturing capabilities and driving research and development.
Arch Venture Partners holds a 27.5% stake in Sana Bio set to be reduced to 25.1% in the offering. Flagship Pioneering is set to come out with a 19.5% stake post-IPO, CPP 5.3% and F-Prime 4.7%.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and BofA Securities are joint bookrunnning managers for the offering. They will have the option to buy up to 2.5 million more shares once the company floats, thoretically boosting the size of the IPO to $397m.
The original version of this article appeated on our sister site, Global University Venturing.