Selecta Biosciences, a US-based immunotherapy drug developer backed by pharmaceutical company Sanofi, filed for an initial public offering on Nasdaq on Tuesday that is sized at up to $75m.
Founded in 2007, Selecta is developing treatments based on its synthetic vaccine particle to combat rare and serious diseases. The therapeutics would in particular seek to modulate the formation of anti-drug antibodies by the mmune system that may stop treatment from working.
Part of the proceeds will fund a phase 2 clinical trial for Selecta’s lead drug candidate, SEL-212. Additional cash is expected to support preclinical studies for additional candidates from its gene therapy pipeline.
Selecta has raised approximately $117m in funding, completing a $38m series E round featuring Sanofi subsidiary Sanofi-Genzyme BioVentures in September 2015.
OrbiMed Advisors, Ridgeback Capital Management, Osage University Partners, AJU IB Investment, Sphera Global Health Care Fund, Rusnano, Flagship Ventures, NanoDimension, Leukon Investments and Polaris Venture Partners also invested in the round.
Sanofi-Genzyme BioVentures holds less than 5% of Selecta, its largest shareholder being Polaris Venture Partners, which owns a 14.3% stake.
Other notable shareholders include Flagship Ventures (13.5%), the Russian government-backed Rusnano (10.9%), OrbiMed (9.3%), Tas Partners and Leukon Partners (a combined 7.7%) and NanoDimension (5.3%).
UBS Securities, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Canaccord Genuity and Needham & Company are serving as underwriters for the offering.