Audentes Therapeutics filed an amended S-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding its initial public offering (IPO). The company expects to price its 5 million shares in the range of $14 to $16, with an overallotment option for an additional 750,000 shares. At the maximum price, the offering is valued up to $92 million. The company intends to list on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol BOLD.

The underwriters for the offering are Merrill Lynch, Cowen, Piper Jaffray and Wedbush PacGrow.

This biotechnology company is focused on developing and commercializing gene therapy products for patients suffering from serious, life-threatening rare diseases caused by single gene defects. The company believes that gene therapy has powerful potential to treat these diseases through delivery of a functional copy of the affected gene to cells, resulting in production of the normal protein.

Audentes has identified and built a compelling portfolio, including AT132 for the treatment of X-linked myotubular myopathy (XLMTM), AT342 for the treatment of Crigler-Najjar syndrome, AT982 for the treatment of Pompe disease and AT307 for the treatment of the CASQ2 subtype of catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia. The company plans to submit Investigational New Drug applications (INDs) or Clinical Trial Authorisations (CTAs) for AT982 in the third quarter of 2016, for AT342 in the fourth quarter of 2016 and for AT132 in the first quarter of 2017. Also Audentes expects to have preliminary data from all three programs in the second half of 2017.

The company expects its first two product candidates, AT132 and AT342, to enter clinical development in 2016. It also maintains full global rights to all of its product candidates.

In the filing, the company described its mission as follows:

Our mission is to dramatically and positively transform the lives of patients suffering from serious, life-threatening rare diseases with limited or no treatment options. For example, we are developing AT132 to treat XLMTM, a disease for which there are no approved therapies and from which approximately 50% of affected children die in the first year of life. We believe our product candidates have the potential to provide long-lasting benefits, changing the lives of patients with these devastating diseases. Given the available clinical and regulatory pathways, we believe that the rarity and severity of the diseases we target may provide advantages for drug development, including the potential for expedited development and review and market exclusivity.

The company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to advance and develop its pipeline, as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes.

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