4D Molecular files for $100m IPO

4D Molecular Therapeutics, a US-based gene therapy spinout of University of California (UC) Berkeley, filed to raise $100m in an initial public offering on Monday that will enable university venture fund Berkeley Catalyst Fund to exit.
4D is developing gene therapies and will put part of the IPO proceeds toward a phase 1/2 clinical trial for 4D-310, a drug candidate for Fabry disease, a genetic disease that causes biomolecules known as sphingolipids to accumulate in organs leading to pain and other conditions.
Additional funds will support phase 1 trials for two ophthalmological disease candidates and an investigational new drug-enabling test for a possible cystic fibrosis treatment. 4D will also allocate part of the proceeds to expanding its pipeline.
The company raised $18.6m across two rounds in 2015 according to securities filings, before it completed a $90m series B round in September 2018 backed by university venture fund Berkeley Catalyst Fund.
Pfizer Ventures and Chiesi Ventures, the corporate venturing units of pharmaceutical firms Pfizer and Chiesi Group, also took part in the series B round, which was led by Viking Global Investors and also featured CureDuchenne Ventures, ArrowMark Partners, Janus Henderson Investors, Biotechnology Value Fund, MiraeAsset Financial Group, Perceptive Advisors and Ridgeback Capital Investments.
Hedge fund manager Viking Global is the largest investor in 4D, holding a 16% stake, followed by Pfizer Ventures (11.8%) and an entity known as Repleon (7.3%).
Goldman Sachs, Evercore Group, William Blair & Company and Chardan Capital Markets have been appointed underwriters for the offering, which is set to take place on the Nasdaq Global Market.
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.