Biotech companies have been going public at a pretty impressive pace in the recent months and the trend is all set to continue as five more companies submitted their papers to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday last week. Here’s a quick look at each of those five biotech companies.
Akero Therapeutics
The San Francisco based company is one of the few companies which is involved in the development of medicines for treating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and currently there is no Food and Drugs Administration approved treatment for the condition. The company is targeting a valuation of $86 million in its initial public offering (IPO). The company plans to use the money raised from its IPO for middle stage studies.
Prevail Therapeutics
New York-based Prevail Therapeutics is involved in creating gene therapy medicines for neurodegenerative disorders and its main product is PR001, a treatment for Parkinson’s disease. The company stated in its filing that the drug in question is also being tweaked to treat Gauche disease. The company is looking to get a valuation of $100 million and use the fresh capital to sponsor the next stage of studies with regards to PR001. It has already got FDA approval for clinical trials.
Dermavant Sciences
Dermavent, which is owned almost entirely (99% stake) by Roivant Sciences, is engaged in producing medicines for skin problems, acquired the license from its leading product from Glaxo. Roivant Sciences is engaged in compounds that have been discarded by big pharmaceutical companies and that same strategy seems to be in place at Dermavent.
Dermavent has also started Phase 3 testing for its lead product, that is meant for the treatment of psoriasis and is targeting an IPO valuation of $ 100 million. The money would be used to develop many other drugs that the company wants to bring in to the market.
BridgeBio
As far as the business model is concerned, BridgeBio is similar to Roivant and Dermavent, since it is also engaged in scouring for compounds that have been discarded by big pharma companies. The company is involved in creating experimental treatments meant for genetic problems and the company has a whole range of subsidiaries, who can use BridgeBio’s resources but can also go off on their own if they want. The company has set its target on a valuation of $225 million in its IPO and are going to use the money to facilitate further research at subsidiaries.
Atreca
Last but not the least, Redwood City, California based Atreca has also filed its papers for an IPO, in which the company is seeking a valuation of $100 million. The company has developed its own proprietary technology that helps researchers in finding out antibodies and their targets.
The company claims that its technology has managed to discover as many as 1400 antibodies. The company’s lead product ATRC-101 is an antibody that is meant for treating tumors and Arteca expects to submit its application to the FDA later on in 2019.
