Intersect ENT files for $80M IPO to support steroid-delivering sinus implants

Intersect's Propel sinus implant, the size of a quarter--Courtesy of Intersect ENT

Intersect ENT, the maker of a drug-delivering implant designed to treat sinusitus, is joining a spate of life science companies that have recently jumped into the IPO pool. Intersect, filing with the SEC on Monday, hopes to raise up to $80 million in the offering.

The Menlo Park outfit has raised almost the same amount since its inception in 2003 from a number of stakeholders including Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Norwest Venture Partners, PTV Sciences and its competitor in the implant space, Medtronic ($MDT), which owns an almost 7% stake in Intersect, according to an article in the Silicon Valley Business Journal. The company, which became one of FierceMedicalDevices' Fierce 15 in October, plans to trade under the name XENT on the Nasdaq.

Intersect's newest sinus implant, which most recently garnered a $30 million Series D funding round in early 2013, is designed to be placed by a physician during a normal office visit without surgery. All of its implants make use of the Propel system, which delivers the corticosteroid mometasone furoate while the device dissolves, keeping the sinus open for up to 30 days in studies. The Propel and Propel mini implants won FDA approval back in 2011, and the new unnamed device collected positive results in a pilot study last September.

According to Nasdaq, Intersect booked $23 million in sales for the year ending in March 2014, and the Journal states that revenue grew to almost $18 million for the year ending 2013. During that time, the company posted a net loss of about $18.4 million, according to its S-1.

Intersect joins a few other life science companies (mostly biotechs) this week after a spring slowdown that followed last year's boom. Tobira Therapeutics, Immune Design, Zosano Pharma and Macrocure are all on that list this week, lining up a combined $269 million in expected funds. Days earlier, Ocular Therapeutix and Atara Bioteherapeutics also joined the fray, with others pulling in larger-than-expected windfalls just last week.

An IPO wasn't always on the table for Intersect, but it's perhaps the current climate that drove it to cash in.

Intersect CEO Lisa Earnhardt told FierceMedicalDevices last year: "We are building this company to ensure we are profitable and have sustainable growth," she said, "and that focus is on what we can control to ensure that we are developing a high-growth, high-value-added business. In this space, a lot of exits tend to be on the M&A versus IPO (side), but we are keeping our options open."

- here's the S-1
- here's the Silicon Valley Business Journal report
- and here's the Nasdaq brief

Special Report: Drug-Delivery Device Combos to Watch - Intersect ENT's sinus implant