The Northwestern University-backed neurologic disorder therapy developer floated at the top of its range, increasing the share volume at the same time.
Aptinyx, a US-based neurologic disorder drug developer backed by Northwestern University and spinout-focused investment firm Osage University Partners, raised approximately $102m when it floated on the Nasdaq Global Select Market yesterday.
The company issued 6.4 million shares priced at $16.00 each, at the top of the initial public offering’s $14 to $16 range, giving it a $520m market capitalisation. The number of shares was increased from 5.3 million.
Aptinyx’s shares opened at $17.40 yesterday on its first day of trading and closed at $20.20.
Founded in 2015, Aptinyx is developing synthetic small molecules that will be used to treat disorders of the brain and nervous system. The company emerged out of Northwestern University spinout Naurex, after the latter was acquired by pharmaceutical firm Allergan.
The company will put $15m of the proceeds into phase 2 studies for NYX-2925, a candidate targeting diabetic peripheral neuropathy and fibromyalgia.
A further $30m will fund the progress of a second candidate, NYX-458, through the completion of a phase 1 trial for cognitive impairment caused by Parkinson’s disease, and $13m will support the completion of a phase 1 trial for NYX-783 in post-traumatic stress disorder.
The IPO follows $135m in funding, starting with $65m of series A capital from Northwestern University, Osage University Partners, New Leaf Venture Partners, Adams Street Partners, PathoCapital, Goudy Park, Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Company, LVP Life Science Ventures, Frazier Healthcare Partners and Longitude Capital in 2016.
Aptinyx added $70m in a December 2017 series B round led by Bain Capital Life Sciences and backed by all series A investors, including Northwestern University and Osage University Partners, as well as new shareholders.
These additional investors included property and healthcare group Nan Fung unit Nan Fung Life Sciences, Adage Capital, Partner Fund Management, Agent Capital, HBM Healthcare Investments and Rock Springs Capital.
Neither Northwestern University nor Osage University Partners owned more than 5% of Aptinyx.
The company’s largest shareholder, Adams Street Partners, had its stake cut from 14.9% to 11.9% in the offering, and other notable backers include New Leaf, Longitude and Frazier (9.3% each post-IPO), Bain Capital (5.6%) and LVP (4.6%).
JP Morgan, Cowen and Company, Leerink Partners and BMO Capital Markets are joint book-runners for the IPO. They have the 30-day option to buy another 960,000 shares, which would boost the size of the offering to almost $118m.
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.
