Just a month after announcing a $115 million series D financing to advance its lead assets, Maze Therapeutics is looking to boost its kidney disease candidates further by going public.
The Bay Area-based biotech revealed the planned IPO in a Jan. 7 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission but did not divulge how many shares it plans to offer nor at what price.
Maze applied to be listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "MAZE," according to the filing.
Proceeds from the offering, like the series D round before it, will go toward guiding MZE829 and MZE782 through clinical development. MZE829 is an oral APOL1 inhibitor being tested for APOL1 kidney disease, with a phase 2 trial planned to begin by the first quarter of 2025.
MZE782, an oral SCL6A19 inhibitor, is earlier in its clinical journey and is currently being tested in a phase 1 trial with healthy volunteers. Maze plans to pursue the drug in chronic kidney disease and phenylketonuria, according to the filing.
The remainder of the funds will go toward “further development of additional common disease programs” in cardiovascular, renal and metabolism indications, the company said in the filing, “including preclinical studies, IND-enabling studies and initiation of clinical trials.”
Maze also hopes to use the IPO to boost its Compass platform, which uses human genetic variation to pinpoint genes associated with disease to identify potential new drug targets. The company’s work on genetic variation earned it a place on Fierce Biotech’s 2019 Fierce 15 list.
The biotech's fundraising efforts thus far have paid off to the tune of almost $500 million, including its $191 million 2019 debut and a $190 million round in 2022.