Fresh off a $76M raise, aTyr pilots an $86M IPO

San Diego-based aTyr Pharma wasn't just flirting with an IPO when it announced a big $76 million round a few days ago. It had its S-1 all ready to go, filing Monday for an $86 million offering aimed at pushing its physiocrine platform into the industry spotlight as its lead drug winds its way toward a prospective regulatory filing. The Scripps spinout's most advanced therapy is Resolaris, which is in a Phase Ib/II trial for rare cases of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). Its Series E--which provided ample clues of a pending IPO--added a lineup of new crossover investors that included T. Rowe Price Associates, Federated Investors, Deerfield, Rock Springs Capital Management, EcoR1 Capital, Sphera Global Healthcare and two additional undisclosed institutional investors. Current venture capital investors--a group that included Alta Partners, Cardinal Partners, Domain Associates and Polaris Venture Partners in the last round in 2013, "and a current public investment fund also took part in the raise." S-1