G1 Therapeutics, which is seeking treatments for cancer, is looking to go public with an IPO valued at some $115 million. The startup, which is backed by serial biotech investor and entrepreneur Fred Eshelman and raised $50 million last year, spells out reasons why it believes investors should be interested in its technology and potential products.

“Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States with approximately 1.7 million new cases and 600,000 deaths in 2016,” G1 notes in its SEC filing regarding the IPO.

“Broadly speaking, the treatment of cancer can be divided into three major therapeutic categories: chemotherapy, immunotherapy/checkpoint inhibitors, and targeted agents. Nearly all patients diagnosed with cancer get treated with one or more or a combination of these treatment modalities during the course of their disease. We believe that oncology has entered a new treatment paradigm involving combination therapies to attack multiple underlying mechanisms of cancer cell growth and survival.”

So where does G1 become a player?

“We estimate that more than one million patients in the United States receive chemotherapy annually and that approximately 300,000 of these patients have CDK4/6-independent tumors where treatment with trilaciclib may provide significant benefit.”

That term – CDK4/6 – and name “trilaciclib” form a cornerstone of G1’s therapeutic play.

“Our two clinical assets are based on our core understanding of cyclin-dependent kinases, or CDKs, a family of proteins that play an important role in the growth and proliferation of all human cells,” G! explains.

“Two particular CDKs, CDK4 and CDK6, collectively known as CDK4/6, represent a validated and promising class of targets for anti-cancer therapeutics. We have leveraged our deep expertise in CDK4/6 biology to discover and develop two highly potent and selective CDK4/6 inhibitors that may have broad applicability across multiple cancer indications. We believe we are the only company with two distinct clinical-stage CDK4/6 inhibitors, trilaciclib and G1T38, each of which has the potential to be the backbone therapy of multiple combination regimens.”

Trilaciclib is “our most advanced candidate, is a potential first-in-class intravenous CDK4/6 inhibitor we rationally designed to preserve HSPCs and enhance immune system function during chemotherapy,” G1 adds.

“Chemotherapy has significant clinical utility and continues to be the most effective treatment for many cancers. However, it also damages HSPCs (myelosuppression) and the immune system (immunosuppression), leading to severe adverse effects and limiting anti-tumor activity. We believe that if the beneficial effects of chemotherapy (i.e. potent tumor cell killing) could be maximized, while minimizing the deleterious side-effects of myelosuppression and immunosuppression, patient outcomes would be significantly improved.”

The company notes that

“CDK4/6 is required for growth and proliferation in certain normal cell types, such as hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, or HSPCs. HSPCs reside in the bone marrow and are the “reservoir” from which all blood and immune system cells are formed. Additionally, CDK4/6 plays an integral role in the growth and proliferation of certain types of tumors. Tumors that rely on CDK4/6 to grow and proliferate are referred to as CDK4/6-dependent tumors, and include the most common kinds of prostate and breast cancer. Alternatively, some tumors can grow and proliferate without CDK4/6 activity and are referred to as CDK4/6-independent. CDK4/6 independent tumors include small cell lung cancer, or SCLC, and triple-negative breast cancer, or TNBC.”

G1 points out that its “two CDK4/6 inhibitors were rationally designed to treat distinct patient populations with different combination regimens. Trilaciclib is in development in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with CDK4/6-independent tumors. G1T38 is in development in combination with targeted therapies for the treatment of patients with CDK4/6-dependent tumors.”

Will investors bite?

There’s much more to read. See the full prospectus at:

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1560241/000119312517123000/d128073ds1.htm#rom128073_4