Neuroscience-focused Rapport Therapeutics and radiopharma developer Telix Pharma announced their respective plans Friday for initial public offerings on the Nasdaq for undisclosed dollar amounts.
Johnson & Johnson-backed Rapport Therapeutics filed for an initial public offering on Friday to raise funds for its central nervous system-targeting small molecule trials, while radiopharmaceuticals developer Telix Pharma also informed the SEC of its plans to go public on the Nasdaq.
Rapport is keeping the details under wraps for now in its SEC filing, choosing not to disclose the number of shares or price range for the offering. Proceeds raised will go towards advancing Phase II development of its lead program, RAP-219, after completing proof-of-concept trials in focal epilepsy, peripheral neuropathic pain and bipolar disorder. The oral table was originally developed by J&J’s Janssen and selectively targets a neuronal receptor-associated protein for the AMPA receptor.
“Most neuroactive drugs lack this specificity, often resulting in undesired and intolerable side effects,” according to Rapport’s filing, which claimed its portfolio of precision product candidates “has the potential to transform the standard of care of many CNS disorders.”
Rapport is also working on a long-acting injectable formulation of its lead asset and discovery-stage nicotinic acetylcholine receptor programs in chronic pain and hearing disorders. Between its Series A and Series B rounds in 2023, the biotech has already raised $250 million from investors like J&J Innovation, ARCH Venture Partners and Third Rock Ventures.
Rapport will be the third neuroscience-focused biotech to go public in 2024. Contineum Therapeutics raised $110 million with its IPO in April and Alto Neuroscience’s initial offering brought in $129 million in February.
Telix Pharma also announced its plans Friday. The Australia-based radiopharma company filed for its IPO, leaving the dollar amount details blank for now.
It already has a product on the market. Telix’s prostate cancer PET scan agent Illuccix targets the PSMA protein on cancer cells throughout the body, potentially detecting tumors more accurately, according to the company.
Going public is intended to help support Telix’s therapeutic candidates through clinical development. The company has earmarked the funds for a handful of late-stage assets including a Phase III trial for TLX250, a radio-antibody drug conjugate therapy for advanced metastatic kidney cancer and Phase II/III trial of TLX101 in glioblastoma with hope for conditional approval or rapid progression to a pivotal Phase III. Telix is also looking to expand the label of Illuccix.
While the IPO market for biotechs showed signs of life during the first quarter of 2024 with 10 companies going public, some of the shares have subsequently lost value adding to investor skepticism, according to CNBC. Experts are anticipating IPO activity in the sector will stay below the average 50 IPOs for the year.
Kate Goodwin is a freelance life science writer based in Des Moines, Iowa. She can be reached at kate.goodwin@biospace.com and on LinkedIn.
