Serial entrepreneur and Massachusetts biotech super-star Dr. Robert Langer’s Bind Therapeutics last week launched an initial public offering aimed at raising $70.5 million from shares sold at $15 apiece.
The clinical-stage company, co-founded by Langer and Dr. Omid Farokhzad, is developing nanotech-based solutions for "programmable" therapeutics, starting a pair of cancer drugs.
The common stock offering launched on Friday, September 20, 2013, and is expected to close September 25, according to a company statement.
"Accurins are designed with specified physical and chemical characteristics to target specific cells or tissues and concentrate a therapeutic payload at the site of disease to enhance efficacy while minimizing adverse effects on healthy tissues," according to the company’s regulatory filings. "Our strategy is to leverage our medicinal nanoengineering platform to develop our own pipeline of Accurins, initially in oncology, as well as Accurins in collaboration with biopharmaceutical companies.
Bind projects the total proceeds from the sale to amount to about $62.7 million, or as much as $72.5 million if the additional purchase options are exercised in full. The company will use the funds to "to support our operations, to create a public market for our common stock and to facilitate our future access to the public equity markets," as well as for general corporate purposes, according to the company’s documents.
Part of the funds will go toward support BIND-014, the company’s lead drug candidate, which is in Phase II clinical trials for non-small cell lung cancer and metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer.
Bind’s not the only company with an IPO on its books in recent weeks. Just last month California spinal devices startup Aurora Spine announced a $3.6 million offering, Texas spinal devices maker LDR Holdings announced a $69 million offering and group purchasing organization Premier announced a $100 million offering.