The AstraZeneca antibacterial medicine spinout aims to raise $86.3m in an initial public offering that could also herald an exit for Novo.

Entasis Therapeutics, a US-based antibacterial medicine developer backed by pharmaceutical companies Novo and AstraZeneca, has filed for an $86.3m initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Market.

AstraZeneca spun out Entasis in 2015 with $40m of financing to further develop its small-molecule anti-infectives assets, and it is focusing on combatting infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria that are resistant to many existing drug treatments.

Part of the proceeds will fund the progress of the company’s lead product candidate, ETX2514SUL, through…