Vogenx has joined the growing queue for the Nasdaq, as the metabolic biotech eyes an IPO to fund its SGLT1 inhibitor.
The Durham, North Carolina-based company has yet to set out how many shares it plans to offer or at what price. But top of the list of spending priorities is the biotech’s lead asset mizagliflozin, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Vogenx licensed the global rights for the drug—excluding Japan, Korea and Taiwan—from Kissei Pharmaceutical back in 2021. The oral therapy is designed to inhibit SGLT1, a protein found in the gastrointestinal tract that is responsible for transporting glucose from food into the bloodstream.
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals has found success with a similar modality when its once-daily pill Inpefa, also known as sotagliflozin, became the first FDA-approved SGLT1/SGLT2 inhibitor in 2023. That approval was for reducing the risk of heart failure in adults who have had the condition or have Type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease and other cardiovascular risk factors.
Vogenx has already taken mizagliflozin through a pair of phase 2 trials for post-bariatric hypoglycemia (PBH), a dangerously low blood sugar level complication that can occur between six months and several years after weight-loss surgery. Those studies showed a statistically significant reduction in glucose absorption and insulin secretion.
Proceeds from the IPO will be used to push forward these PBH ambitions, including a phase 2b study that is expected to start screening patients this year.
Money will also go towards continuing to develop mizagliflozin for gastroparesis, a chronic condition where the stomach empties too slowly. A phase 2 study is pencilled in for 2027, when the company also plans to seek FDA sign-off on testing the drug in patients with GIP-dependent Cushing’s syndrome.
Beyond mizagliflozin, Vogenx also has a preclinical asset dubbed VGX-2857 that the company teased could be evaluated as a weight maintenance treatment, among other metabolic indications.
It’s no surprise that Vogenx is looking for a fresh source of funds to make these wide-ranging clinical ambitions a reality. The SEC filing revealed that the biotech’s funds had dwindled to just $251,000 as of the end of March.
The company was founded in 2021 with the aim of developing mizagliflozin, and secured an $11 million series A round the following year. Vogenx is led by CEO James Green, who previously helmed metabolic biotech Avolynt.
Aside from Green, the company’s three other full-time employees include Chief Medical Officer William Wilkison, Ph.D., who also worked at Avolynt, as well as GSK.
Vogenx is joining a growing list of drug developers expressing an interest in going public, including cardiovascular-focused Braveheart Bio, dermatology biotech Attovia Therapeutics, sleep apnea company Apnimed and obesity biotech Kalohexis. The companies will be hoping to wide a wave of biotech IPO enthusiasm this year that has seen record-breaking listings from the likes of Kailera Therapeutics and Parabilis Medicines