Voyager Therapeutics, a US-based gene therapy developer backed by pharmaceutical company Sanofi, has raised $70m in an initial public offering, issuing 5 million shares priced at $14.00 each.
Voyager floated below the $15 to $17 range it set last week. It opened at $15.20 on Wednesday and closed at $17.50 yesterday.
The company plans to use $25m of the proceeds to fund clinical development of VY-AADC01, a treatment for advanced Parkinson’s disease. A further $30m will support preclinical development, manufacturing and clinical development of four other prospective drug candidates.
Sanofi invested $30m in Voyager in February this year through subsidiary Aventis, and Aventis owned an 11.2% stake that was diluted to 9% through the offering.
Third Rock Ventures, which provided $45m in series A funding for Voyager in January 2014, held a 52.6% share that was reduced to 42.5%.
Voyager followed that funding with a $49m series B round in April this year backed by Fidelity Management Research (FMR), Brookside Capital Partners and Partners Investments. FMR owns 6% post-IPO, Brookside 4.5% and Partners 4.2%.
Cowen and Company and Piper Jaffray are serving as joint book-running managers for the IPO, while Wedbush PacGrow and Nomura are co-managers.
The underwriters have the 30-day option to buy another 750,000 shares, which would lift the size of the offering to $80.5m.