GPCR drug developer Septerna plans to raise about $157 million in net proceeds from its proposed initial public offering, according to a new securities filing Monday morning.
The Nasdaq debut would push out Septerna’s runway into 2027 and give it an overall capital heap of about $294 million. The Bay Area startup is marketing 10.93 million shares $SEPN in the range of $15 to $17 apiece, according to the SEC filing. The biotech, which works on oral drugs targeting G protein-coupled receptors, initially unveiled its Times Square ambitions on Oct. 2.
Septerna is likely to go public right before the US presidential election, and no other major biotech startups are in the IPO on-deck circle. The market has been “quiet” since the steady stream of floats last month and earlier in October from companies like Upstream Bio, CAMP4 Therapeutics and MBX Biosciences.
Like MBX, Septerna is working in the rare endocrinology field of hypoparathyroidism. The condition has also seen a bubbling of activity lately with the approval of Ascendis’ Yorvipath this summer and AstraZeneca’s acquisition of Amolyt Pharma. Septerna believes it’s the first to take an oral hypoparathyroidism treatment candidate into human studies.
Septerna entered Phase 1 in Australia last month. The healthy volunteer study will include up to 180 adults to test once-daily and twice-daily dosing of its lead asset SEP-786. The biotech anticipates data in mid-2025 and then plans to move into Phase 1 in the US and “select foreign jurisdictions,” including places in Europe and Canada.
The biotech has another oral small molecule for the inflammatory skin disease known as chronic spontaneous urticaria, or CSU. The company has started IND-enabling studies for the experimental medicine. It also wants to get into the popular fields of obesity and type 2 diabetes, but those programs are likely far away.
The startup launched with $100 million in 2022 based on work in the lab of Nobel laureate and GPCR pioneer Robert Lefkowitz. Septerna then assembled a $150 million Series B in mid-2023. Third Rock Ventures, Samsara BioCapital, RA Capital, Deep Track, Invus, BVF and Goldman Sachs’ West Street Life Sciences all own 5% or more of the 68-employee startup.