Maze Therapeutics has set out plans for a $131 million IPO as the company prepares to start dosing its lead kidney drug in a phase 2 trial.
The Bay Area-based biotech unveiled its ambition earlier this month to go public, and Maze has now stuck some numbers to this plan. The aim is to sell 7.8 million shares priced between $15 and $17 apiece, according to a Jan. 27 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Assuming the final price falls in the middle of this range, Maze expects the IPO to bring in net proceeds of $113.6 million—rising to $131 million if underwriters fully exercise their 30-day option to pick up an additional 1.17 million shares at the same price.
Top priority for the IPO proceeds will be MZE829, an oral APOL1 inhibitor being tested for APOL1 kidney disease, with dosing in an ongoing phase 2 expected to begin in the coming weeks. There’s also MZE782, an oral SCL6A19 inhibitor in a phase 1 trial with healthy volunteers and plans to pursue the drug in chronic kidney disease and phenylketonuria.
The biotech's fundraising efforts thus far have paid off to the tune of almost $500 million, including its $191 million 2019 debut and a $190 million round in 2022. Only last month, Maze brought in a $115 million series D co-led by Frazier Life Sciences and Deep Track Capital.
From these raises, the company ended September with just under $150 million in the bank. Combined with the anticipated IPO proceeds, Maze thinks it will pave a cash runway into the second half of 2027.
Maze uses its Compass platform to identify gene variants that are associated with disease and unravel what those variants do in order to identify new targets and drugs, according to the company’s website. Maze’s main focus areas are renal, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Its work on gene variants earned it a spot in Fierce Biotech’s 2019 Fierce 15 list.