Evelo Biosciences, Inc. filed for an IPO with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 5 seeking to raise up to $85 million. The Massachusetts-based biotechnology company engages in the development of microbial therapies that are aimed at treating inflammatory diseases.
Evelo plans to list under the ticker symbol “EVLO” on the Nasdaq Global Market. JMP Securities is the co-manager on the deal, while BMO Capital Markets, Cowen and Morgan Stanley are acting as lead underwriters. The expected date of the IPO is May 7.
On Monday, the firm laid out terms for the IPO, saying it will make 5.3 million shares of its common stock available to the public at a price range of between $15 and $17. At the midpoint of that price range, the company would command an enterprise value of $377 million and a market valuation of $563 million. However, the company said that the price range is an just an estimate for working out SEC registration fee.
Evelo’s lead monoclonal microbial therapy will be tested for the first time on humans, and the firm believes that this is the ideal time to go public in a bid to raise $100. The biotech firm was founded in 2014 after raising $85.4 million by getting a loan from Pacific Western Bank and selling its stock to Flagship Pioneering company. Some of the product candidates that the company is known for include EDP1503, EDP1066 and EDP1815.
According to the prospectus that Evelo filed with SEC, even if the offering ends up being successful, the firm will still require additional finance before it can make a profit from the sales of its “yet to be approved products”.
In the event that it is not able to raise the additional funding at the right time, it would have to discontinue, reduce or delay its commercialization efforts or product development programs. Evelo intends to use proceeds of the IPO to advance its preclinical development activities, invest in its platform, and fund its oncology programs as well as its inflammatory diseases programs.
The headquarters of the Evelo Biosciences are located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Evelo focuses on the body and gut intersection; in particular, the relationship between the immune system and the gut.
The scientists working at the firm believe that designing the ideal microbial strains for the gut can down-regulate the body to counter inflammatory diseases such as atopic dermatitis, Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis, or up-regulate it to deal with cancer.
Sources
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1694665/000119312518116927/d568134ds1.htm
