Turning Point Therapeutics, a US-based precision oncology drug developer backed by pharmaceutical firms Eli Lilly and GlaxoSmithKline, has filed for a $100m initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Market .
Founded in 2013 as TP Therapeutics, Turning Point has developed a pipeline of drug candidates for forms of cancer that have proven resistant to existing therapies. Its lead asset, repotrectinib, is aimed at non-small cell lung cancer and advanced solid tumours.
Repotrectinib is set to enter into a phase 2 trial in the second half of 2019 and part of the proceeds from the IPO will be allocated to the candidate’s further development. It will also use funding to advance its preclinical pipeline.
Turning Point has raised approximately $145m in funding to date. Lilly Asia Ventures and SR One, respective corporate venturing subsidiaries for Eli Lilly and GlaxoSmithKline, participated in its most recent round, an $80m series C in October 2018.
Venture capital firms Foresite Capital and VenBio Partners co-led the series C round, which included VC firm Nextech Invest and life science investment firms HBM Healthcare Investments and OrbiMed.
Lilly Asia Ventures and SR One had co-led Turning Point’s $45m series C round in 2017, with participation from OrbiMed, Cormorant Asset Management and SV Tech Ventures.
Cormorant is currently the company’s largest external shareholder, with a 13.3% stake, while Lilly Asia Ventures, SR One and OrbiMed each hold 8.2%, and Foresite Capital and VenBio 6.3% each.
Goldman Sachs and SVB Leerink are the joint book-running managers for the proposed IPO, while Wells Fargo Securities is also a joint book-running manager and Canaccord Genuity is a lead manager.
