Bellerophon Therapeutics has squeaked through onto the public markets with an IPO that priced below the expected range. It now has about $83 million in cash to advance a pair of pipeline candidates it gleaned from its spinoff from Ikaria in October 2013.
The IPO raised $60 million through the sale of 5 million shares at $12 each. The company used the number of shares to compensate for a share price that was below the anticipated range, thereby deepening the dilution of this financing. Bellerophon had hoped to sell 4 million shares at a price range of $14 to $16.
The company has a couple of advanced clinical programs: INOpulse, a nitric oxide delivery device and its bioabsorbable cardiac matrix (BCM).
Bellerophon expects to start Phase III testing during the second half of 2015 for INOpulse to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). It's also in Phase II testing to treat pulmonary hypertension associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
BCM is currently in a placebo-controlled trial that's expected to support a CE mark for the prevention of cardiac remodeling, which often leads to congestive heart failure following a type of myocardial infarction. The 303-patient study completed enrollment in December and is expected to have topline results by mid-2015. If the results are positive, the company expects to conduct a pivotal U.S. trial in the first half of 2016.
It is delivered in a minimally invasive percutaneous coronary intervention procedure. "BCM is a formulated sterile solution of sodium alginate and calcium gluconate designed to be administered as a liquid through the coronary artery. BCM flows into damaged heart muscle where, in the presence of abnormally high extracellular calcium released by the damaged cells, it forms a protective hydrogel meshwork within the wall of the heart's left ventricle," describes the SEC filing.
Bellerophon has incurred net losses of $176.5 million since August 2009, which it counts as its inception for financial purposes.
Existing shareholders committed to buying up to about one-third, or $20 million, of the IPO. Its investors include New Mountain Capital with a 47.9% pre-IPO stake, Linde (16.1%), Arch Venture Partners (9.5%) and Venrock (9.5%).
Earlier this week, consumer-facing genomics company Invitae ($NVTA) raised $102 million in an IPO. Bellerophon is at least the fifth med tech IPO completed already this year.
- here are the last SEC filing and the press release