It's been a busy week on the IPO front for drug delivery specialists: Israel's NeuroDerm filed for a stock offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the basis of its subcutaneous formulation for treating Parkinson's; Civitas, the developer of an inhaled formulation for the disease, is expected to debut on the Nasdaq Sept. 24; and EyeGate Pharmaceuticals, which employs low-voltage electrical current to deliver eye medication, also just filed for an IPO with the SEC.
NeuroDerm touts its expertise at "developing proprietary liquid reformulations of orally administered drugs for CNS (central nervous system) diseases that enable us to subcutaneously administer the drugs to achieve higher clinical efficacy" in its SEC filing. Its lead candidates are reformulated version of of the orally administered Parkinson's treatments levodopa and carbidopa delivered using a belt pump device. Phase III trials are planned for 2015. In addition, the company has an earlier-stage intraduodenal candidate for the disease that is administered via the small intestine using a belt pump device, as well as a transdermally delivered candidate for cognition disorders.
NeuroDerm hopes to raise as much as $65 million, according to Renaissance Capital. That would be on top of the $16 million raised from private investors in August. NeuroDerm competitor Civitas Therapeutics hopes to raise $75 million beginning Sept. 24 when it plans to offer 5 million shares at a price between $14 and $16. The Chelsea, MA-based biotech is developing CVT-301, a fast-acting rescue formulation of levodopa that can be self-administered through an inhaler.
Both companies say that standard orally delivered levodopa suffers from unpredictable absorption and excessive variability in drug concentrations, leading to "off" episodes that make moving difficult. NeuroDerm will use the ticker symbol "NDRM" and Civitas "CVTS."
Finally, EyeGate Pharmaceuticals touts its EyeGate II Delivery System that "employs the use of a low electrical current that promotes the migration of a charged drug substance across biological membranes," according to the SEC filing. EyeGate plans to raise $25 million by offering 2 millions shares for between $12 and $14 under the ticker symbol "EYEG." The company hopes to launch its Phase III combination product for noninfectious anterior uveitis in 2017. The drug candidate EGP-437 is a reformulation of the corticosteroid dexamethasone phosphate.
- read the Renaissance Capital article about NeuroDerm | F-1 filing with the SEC
- and the article about Civitas | S-1/A filing with the SEC
- and the article about EyeGate | S-1 filing with the SEC