Werewolf Therapeutics, a US-based oncology therapy developer backed by pharmaceutical firm Taiho, filed for a $100m initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq Global Market yesterday.
Founded by life sciences investment firm MPM Capital with an undisclosed amount of seed funding in 2017, Werewolf is developing cancer-focused biotherapeutics which involve using its protein engineering platform dubbed Predator to train the body’s immune response to target tumours.
The company will use the proceeds from the offering and existing cash on hand to advance its pipeline of drug candidates and carry out phase 1 clinical trials for its lead candidates WTX-124 and WTX-330, as well as preclinical development of a third candidate, WTX-613.
However, Werewolf added the cash will not be sufficient to fully support the product candidates’ development and commercialisation plans and intends to raise further funding.
MPM Capital is the company’s largest shareholder, owning a stake of about 20.8%, followed by UBS Oncology Impact Fund with approximately 11.6% and entities affiliated with RA Capital with 11.3%.
Taiho’s corporate venturing unit, Taiho Ventures, holds 8% and Werewolf’s other major shareholders include Deerfield Partners (8.75%), Arkin Bio Ventures 2 (8.2%), Longwood Fund III (7.1%) and UPMC (5.5%).
Werewolf most recently closed a $72m series B round in January 2021 led by RA Capital and backed by Taiho Ventures, Adage Capital, Arkin Bio Ventures, CaaS Capital, DC Investment Partners, Deerfield Management, HBM Healthcare Investments, Longwood Fund, MPM Capital, Soleus Capital, Sphera Healthcare and UPMC Enterprises.
Taiho Ventures had participated in a $56m series A round for the company in late 2019 that was co-led by MPM Capital and Longwood Fund and backed by Arkin Bio Ventures, DC Investment Partners and UPMC Enterprises.
Jefferies, SVB Leerink, Evercore Group and HC Wainwright have been appointed underwriters for the offering.
