Austrian drug developer Nabriva Therapeutics is plotting to make its way to Wall Street in a $92 million IPO, raising cash to support its pipeline of treatments for infectious diseases.
The company, spun out of Sandoz in 2005, is working on a handful of antibiotics based on the chemical pleuromutilin, which interrupts the protein synthesis process to kill off infectious invasions. Nabriva is yet to specify how many shares it will offer or at what price, disclosing only that it plans to trade on the Nasdaq exchange under "NBRV."
Nabriva's lead candidate, the wholly owned lefamulin, is slated to enter Phase III development in community-acquired bacterial pneumonia in the second half of this year. The drug has also completed a Phase II study in acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections, and it's in preclinical study as a treatment for a range of other infections.
With its IPO proceeds, Nabriva plans to push lefamulin through two Phase III trials over the next two years, plotting to submit the drug for global approvals in 2018 if all goes according to plan. The treatment would be the first pleuromutilin antibiotic cleared for systemic use in the U.S., according to Nabriva, and the biotech figures it can commercialize the drug on its own.
Beyond its lead candidate, Nabriva is developing early-stage pleuromutilin therapies for a variety of Gram-positive infections, and the biotech plans to invest in its in-house discovery platform to widen its pipeline.
Nabriva's IPO pitch comes on the heels of a multi-tranche $120 million venture round announced in April and led by Vivo Capital and OrbiMed. The first installment, totaling $50 million, is earmarked for lefamulin's run-up into Phase III.
- read the filing