Alopexx is forging ahead with long-gestating plans to go public, updating IPO paperwork to fund trials of candidates including an infectious disease antibody that was once the focus of a $375 million deal with Sanofi.
The plan is to sell 2.4 million shares priced at $5 a pop. Alopexx expects to bring in $9.9 million in gross proceeds—rising to $11.6 million if underwriters fully take up their option to buy an additional 360,000 shares at the same price.
The biotech is developing two candidates, both of which target poly N-acetyl glucosamine (PNAG). The target is expressed by more than 75 pathogens, including antimicrobial-resistant microbes, and plays a role in their survival and virulence. Those attributes have led scientists to hail PNAG as an important vaccine target and fueled years of research.
AV0328, one of Alopexx’s lead candidates, is a synthetic PNAG vaccine that has completed a phase 1 trial. The biotech is pitching the asset as complementary to the currently approved Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccines Prevnar, Pneumovax and Vaxneuvance. AV0328 has completed phase 1 and Alopexx is seeking money to run a proof-of-concept study.
Another slice of the targeted IPO haul is earmarked for a proof-of-concept trial of F598, Alopexx’s other lead candidate. Sanofi licensed the antibody from Alopexx Pharmaceuticals, a precursor to the current biotech of the same name, in 2009 but faced challenges such as the slow enrollment (PDF) of a phase 2a trial.
Alopexx wants to run a proof-of-concept trial of the monoclonal antibody in intensive care patients. The biotech sees F598 as a way to provide immediate protection against pathogens, making it suitable for use in patients who are at urgent or near-term risk of developing an infection.
A high-net-worth U.S. family with ties to Alopexx CEO Daniel Vlock, M.D., funded the programs through 2017 but then decided to exit investments including the vaccine and antibody candidates. Alopexx received $666,666 from Bharat Biotech for rights to the vaccine candidate in India last year but has largely relied on convertible note agreements with Vlock for money in recent years.
The biotech first filed to go public in 2022 and its cash reserves have run low, by biotech standards, to zero throughout that time. Alopexx ended last year with $268,597 but later added $300,000 to its bank balance.