Odonate Therapeutics Gears Up for IPO

Odonate Therapeutics registered an amended S-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its initial public offering (IPO). The company expects to price its 5.88 million shares in the range of $25 to $27, with an overallotment option for an additional 882,000 shares. At the maximum price, the entire offering is valued up to $182.57 million. The company intends to list its shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol ODT.

The underwriters for the offering are Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Cowen.

This pharmaceutical company is dedicated to the development of best-in-class therapeutics that improve and extend the lives of patients with cancer. Its initial focus is on the development of tesetaxel, a novel chemotherapy agent that belongs to a class of drugs known as taxanes, which are widely used in the treatment of cancer.

Tesetaxel has several potential therapeutic advantages over currently available taxanes, including: oral administration with a low pill burden and a patient-friendly dosing regimen; a formulation that does not contain solubilizing agents that are known to cause hypersensitivity (allergic) reactions; and improved activity against chemotherapy-resistant tumors. Tesetaxel has been generally well tolerated in clinical studies and has demonstrated robust single-agent antitumor activity in two Phase 2 studies in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer (MBC).

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Management expects to begin enrolling patients in its multinational, multicenter, randomized, Phase 3 study in MBC, known as CONTESSA, in the fourth quarter of 2017 and report top-line results from this study in 2020. The goal for tesetaxel is to develop an effective chemotherapy choice for patients that provides quality-of-life advantages over current alternatives.

For some quick background: Breast cancer is the second-most common cancer worldwide, with an estimated 1.8 million new cases diagnosed per year. In Europe, an estimated 494,000 new cases are diagnosed and approximately 143,000 women will die of the disease each year, making it the leading cause of cancer death in women. In the United States, an estimated 255,000 new cases are diagnosed and approximately 41,000 women will die of the disease each year, making it the second-leading cause of cancer death in women.

The company expects to use the net proceeds from this offering to conduct its Phase 3 MBC trial. The remainder will go toward further development and manufacturing of tesetaxel, as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes.

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