Stoke Therapeutics, a US-based genetic medicine developer backed by life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities, has filed for an initial public offering.
The company plans to float on the Nasdaq Global Select Market and has set a placeholder figure of $86m as a target.
Founded in 2014, Stoke is developing drugs designed to treat serious conditions caused by gene function being lost or diminished.
The IPO proceeds will fund a phase 3 clinical trial of Stoke’s lead candidate, STK-001, a treatment for a form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome. Additional capital will be used to research a pipeline of preclinical drug candidates that target diseases of the central nervous system, eye, ear, liver and kidney.
RTW Investments led the company’s $90m series B round in October 2018, investing with Alexandria Venture Investments, the venture capital arm of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, as well as Perceptive Advisors, RA Capital Management, Cormorant Asset Management, Redmile Group, Sphera Funds Management, Apple Tree Partners and funds managed by Janus Henderson Investors.
VC firm Apple Tree Partners had previously supplied $40m in series A financing for Stoke in January 2018 and owns 65.3% of its shares according to the filing. The only other shareholder to own a stake in the company sized at 5% or more is RTW Investments, which holds 11.9%
JP Morgan Securities, Cowen and Company, and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) have been appointed joint book-running managers for the IPO while Canaccord Genuity is also an underwriter.