Novartis-backed Viamet hopes for better luck with IPO

Two years after trying and failing to pull off an IPO, fungal disease specialist Viamet Pharmaceuticals is looking to go public again, setting terms for a $86 million offering.

The Durham, NC-based biotech, which discovers and develops small molecule inhibitors of key metalloenzymes to treat fungal diseases, plans to raise the $86 million by offering 5.7 million shares at a price range of $14 to $16. 

Insiders intend to purchase $40 million worth of shares in the offering, according to Renaissance Capital. At the midpoint of the proposed range, Viamet would command a fully diluted market value of $389 million. The company will go under the ticker $VMET, and aims to list on the Nasdaq. 

At the end of last year, the biotech had cash funds of just under $30 million and should its IPO go through, the company said it will spend the new money to complete its ongoing Phase IIb clinical trials of VT-1161 in onychomycosis (a fungal infection of the nail) and recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis, while also starting Phase III trials in one or both of these indications.

It will also go toward completing an ongoing Phase I study and begin a planned midstage test of VT-1129 for cryptococcal meningitis, a rare form of the disease that often originates in patients with compromised immune systems.      

The biotech attempted to pull off an IPO worth around $75 million in 2014 but later dropped its plans, instead raising $60 million through VC funds.

Novartis ($NVS) and Eli Lilly’s ($LLY) venture arms own 12.9% and 11.3% in the company respectively, with the largest stockholder being Malin J1 Limited, a private funds firm based in Ireland.

-check out Viamet’s SEC-1 filing