The IPO market has been slow this year, but Apogee Therapeutics and Sagimet Biosciences have managed to attract investor confidence and increase the size of their stock offerings. Apogee raised $300 million in its IPO and plans to stand out in the crowded field of immunology and inflammation drugs by offering a dosing advantage. The company aims to develop drugs that can extend the dosing interval to every two to three months, compared to the current standard of every other week to every four weeks. Apogee’s lead program, APG777, is in development for atopic dermatitis and has an advantage of a longer half-life due to antibody engineering. The company plans to begin a Phase 1 study in the second half of this year and hopes to proceed to Phase 2 testing if the data is positive.
Sagimet Biosciences raised $85 million in its IPO and is focused on developing treatments for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a fatty liver disease that currently has no FDA-approved therapies. The company aims to target dysfunctional metabolic pathways caused by the overproduction of palmitate, a fatty acid. The company’s lead drug candidate, denifanstat, is a fatty acid synthase inhibitor and has shown promising results in reducing liver fat in Phase 2b data presented last fall. Sagimet plans to continue Phase 2b testing and prepare for a Phase 3 study with the IPO proceeds.
Both Apogee and Sagimet have strong cash positions and plan to use the IPO proceeds to support their clinical development plans. Apogee intends to allocate between $110 million and $115 million for the clinical development of APG777 and another $65 million to $70 million for preclinical development of APG808, which targets chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Sagimet plans to use the IPO proceeds, along with its cash position of $25.2 million, to continue Phase 2b testing of denifanstat in NASH and prepare for a Phase 3 study.
Overall, even though the IPO market has been sluggish, Apogee and Sagimet have managed to attract investor confidence and secure significant funding for their drug development programs. Both companies have innovative drug candidates in their respective fields and are aiming to address unmet medical needs. With the IPO proceeds, they have the financial resources to advance their clinical development plans and potentially bring new treatments to patients in the future.
July 14, 2023
Artificial Intelligence
FDAcop
