The initial public offering on Aim will provide an exit to shareholders including Novartis, which gave Mereo access to three of its clinical stage therapies last year.

UK-based biopharmaceutical company Mereo Biopharma is set to float on Aim providing an exit to shareholders including pharmaceutical firm Novartis, Reuters reported yesterday.

Founded in March 2015, Mereo focuses on bringing treatments to market that have been initially developed by larger pharmaceutical companies that may not have the necessary resources to advance each candidate beyond a phase 2 trial.

Mereo raised £76.5m ($119m) in a series A round last July from asset management firm Woodford Investment Management and investment…