Shockwave Medical, a US-based calcification treatment system developer backed by medical implant manufacturer Abiomed, has secured $97m in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
The company sold 5.7 million shares priced at $17 each, approximately 700,000 more than it had originally planned and above its target range of $14 to $16. It floated on Thursday and its shares closed at $31.61 on Friday, an increase of more than 85% on the IPO price, giving Shockwave a market cap of $850m.
Founded in 2009, Shockwave has developed a medical device that exploits intravascular lithotripsy, a technology that uses sonic pressure waves to remove calcified artery blockages.
Lithotripsy has historically been used to remove kidney stones, but Shockwave is applying the technology to treat calcified peripheral vascular, coronary vascular and heart valve disease.
The company has allocated $32.6m of the IPO proceeds to sales and marketing activities, and $15.5m to research and development and clinical studies.
Abiomed invested $15m in Shockwave in December 2018 at a reported valuation of approximately $360m, as part of a collaboration agreement to train physicians in the combined use of the companies’ products in the US and Germany.
The company had closed an $80m series C round in 2017 with a $35m extension supplied by financial services group Fidelity Management & Research and certain funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates.
The initial $45m tranche was led by Sectoral Asset Management, with participation from T. Rowe Price, Sofinnova Partners, Venrock, RA Capital, Deerfield, Ally Bridge Group and various unnamed investors in 2016.
Sofinnova and Venrock co-led Shockwave’s $40m series B round in 2015, investing alongside RA Capital, Deerfield, Sectoral Asset, Ally Bridge and two undisclosed strategic investors. Sofinnova had already led its $12.5m series A round in 2014.
Abiomed held a 5.3% stake in the company which has been diluted to 4.3%, while Fidelity’s 9.9% shareholding has been reduced to 7.9%. Other notable investors include Baran Holdings, the owner of medical device supplier Trudell Medical (4.3% post-IPO), Sofinnova Partners (15.8%), Venrock (8.3%), T. Rowe Price (4.7%) and Sectoral (4.1%).
Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Pierce, Fenner & Smith are representatives of the underwriters, which also include Wells Fargo Securities and Canaccord Genuity. They have a 30-day option to buy 750,000 more shares, lifting the offering to almost $110m.
