Chimerix, the antiviral drug company that last month filed for an initial public offering of stock, is looking to raise just over $105 million with the deal when the company goes public next week.
Chimerix is set to hit the stock market on April 11, according to the financial news website MorningMoney.
The company is offering 6.1 million shares and is targeting between $13 and $15 a share.
Another 900,000 shares are available by the IPO handlers as an over-allotment.
If the IPO is executed, shares would trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol CMRX.
“This is our initial public offering and no public market currently exists for our shares,” Chimerix said in an SEC filing. “We anticipate that the initial public offering price of our common stock will be between $13.00 and $15.00 per share.”
Morgan Stanley, Cowen and Company, William Blair and Lazard Capital Markets are handling the IPO.
In the filing, Chimerix said buyers of some shares have already expressed interest.
“Entities affiliated with certain of our existing stockholders and directors have indicated an interest in purchasing up to an aggregate of approximately $20.0 million in shares of our common stock in this offering at the initial public offering price, and Aisling Capital III, L.P. has indicated an interest in purchasing up to an aggregate of approximately $15.0 million in shares of our common stock in this offering at the initial public offering price,” the company said.
Chimerix also is on a faster regulatory path for its lead drug candidate.
The Food and Drug Administration’s “fast track” designation for CMX001 shortly after the IPO announcement gives the company’s compound priority review. That faster review is reserved for new drugs addressing serious or life threatening conditions that have few if any alternative treatments. CMX001 is a compound that Chimerix is developing to prevent cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, an infection that can severely sicken patients with already compromised immune systems. The antiviral works by blocking replication of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses.
Chimerix has completed phase 2clinical trials studying CMX001 as a way of preventing CMV in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant procedures. The company expects to start a phase III study later this year in patients undergoing these transplants.
CMX001 is a broad spectrum antiviral candidate that has other potential applications beyond CMV. The compound had previously been granted fast track designation for preventing adenoviral disease in patients after they undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplants. CMX001 is in a phase II study evaluating the antiviral as a way of preventing adenovirus disease, an infection that has no approved therapies and can be fatal.
The antiviral candidate is also being studied for applications in smallpox. Chimerix has a contract from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to develop CMX001 as a possible countermeasure against the the use of smallpox for bioterrorism.
Chimerix filed for an IPO on March 8, seeking to raise up to $85 million. In the filing, the company said proceeds would be used for more research and development.
