Spero Therapeutics, a US-based bacterial infection therapy developer backed by internet and technology group Alphabet and several corporates in the healthcare sector, has filed for an $86.3m initial public offering.
Founded in 2013, Spero is developing therapeutics, some based on its Potentiator Platform technology, which will enhance the potency of existing antibiotics in order to treat bacterial infections that have proven resistant to multiple drugs.
The proceeds will fund a phase 1 clinical trial and the initiation of a phase 3 trial for Spero’s lead product candidate, SPR994, as well as preclinical development and a phase 2 trial for SPR741, an intravenous drug that will be the first to come out of the Potentiator Platform.
Alphabet, care provider Partners Healthcare and pharmaceutical firms GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co and Lundbeck took part in Spero’s last round, a $51.7m series C that closed in March 2017, the latter four through subsidiaries Partners Innovation Fund (PIF), SR One, MRL Ventures and Lundbeckfonden Ventures.
The round, which increased Spero’s overall funding to approximately $115m, also featured conglomerate Kraft Group, venture capital firm Atlas Venture and investment firms Osage University Partners, Rock Springs Capital and RA Capital Management.
PIF, SR One and Atlas Venture invested $3m in Spero in 2014 before joining MRL, Lundbeckfonden Ventures and Kraft Group for a $30m series A round in mid-2015 and a $30m series B in in February 2016.
Atlas Venture is Spero’s larest shareholder, owning a 23.6% stake. Its other notable investors are SR One (17%), GV (13.2%), Lundbeckfond Invest (10.4%), MRL Ventures (8.8%), RA Capital (7.2%) and Osage University Partners (5%).
Spero intends to float on the Nasdaq Global Market. The IPO underwriters are Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Cowen and Company, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company and Oppenheimer & Co.