Gemphire Therapeutics Gears Up for IPO

Gemphire Therapeutics has filed an S-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding its initial public offering (IPO). No pricing details were given in the filing, but the offering is valued up to $60 million. The company intends to list its stock on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol GEMP.

The underwriters for the offering are Jefferies, Cowen, Canaccord Genuity and Roth Capital Partners.

This clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company is focused on developing and commercializing therapies for the treatment of dyslipidemia, a serious medical condition that increases the risk of life threatening cardiovascular disease. Dyslipidemia is generally characterized by an elevation of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), or bad cholesterol, triglycerides, or fat in the blood, or both.
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The company is developing its product candidate gemcabene (CI-1027), a novel, once-daily, oral therapy, for patients who are unable to achieve normal levels of LDL-C or triglycerides with currently approved therapies, primarily statin therapy. Gemcabene’s mechanism of action is designed to enhance the clearance of very low-density lipoproteins in the plasma and inhibit the production of fatty acids and cholesterol in the liver. Gemcabene is liver-directed and inhibits apolipoprotein C-III protein in the liver and may inhibit acetyl-CoA carboxylase in the liver. Gemcabene has been tested as monotherapy and in combination with statins and other drugs in 895 subjects, which Gemphire defines as healthy volunteers and patients, across 18 Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials, and has demonstrated promising evidence of efficacy, safety and tolerability.

Gemphire intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to fund development costs associated with its three late stage clinical trials of gemcabene for target indications and for costs associated with the planned EOP2 meeting with the FDA. The remainder will be put toward general corporate purposes, including working capital and general administrative costs.