Scynexis apparently will go public today after delays dating back a couple of weeks.
The Durham drug-development company was expected to go public earlier this month, but a flagging market apparently set the Scynexis plans back.
Now, The Wall Street Journal reports that today is the IPO day.
Shares are expected to be “priced” today at between $7 and $8, the Journal says. Some 7.3 million shares are expected to be offered, meaning an IPO will generate around $48 million.
The WSJ report comes after other sites had projected IPO dates that turned out to be premature.
Financial news site Benzinga had said Scynexis will begin trading on Friday, the 11th.
However, IPOScoop listed the week of April 14 as the likely launch date.
Scyniexis isn’t talking.
If and when Scynexis finally pulls off the IPO, it will be at a sharply lower price.
The company previously targeted selling shares at between $12 and $14. That range was slashed to an anticipated price now between $7 and $8.
Scynexis also reported that it was doubling the number of shares available in order to raise more capital, much of which will be used to develop its top drug candidate. The company aims to raise some $67 million by offering more than 8 million shares, including an over allotment of some 1 million shares for underwriters.
Scynexis executives recently completed a “road show” to determine interest in the stock.
The company doesn’t yet have a drug on the market. The company had $1.4 million in cash as of Dec. 31, according to reports, and has earmarked $15 million of the proceeds from an IPO to pay down a loan.
French pharmaceutical company Sanofi (currently a 6 percent owner of Scynexis) is interested in purchasing 10 percent of the shares, according to a recent SEC filing.
Scynexis is a pharmaceutical committed to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel anti-infectives to address significant unmet therapeutic needs. Their lead product candidate, SCY-078, is deemed by the company as a novel oral and intravenous drug for the treatment of serious and life-threatening invasive fungal infections in humans. They also have clinical and preclinical programs based on the use of cyclophilin inhibitors to treat viral diseases.
Scynexis originally partnered with drug giant Merck in 2002 to develop and commercialize SCY-078. Merck chose to return it to Scynexis last year.
According to filings, Scynexis generated $16.9 million in revenue last year from performing R&D services for other companies with a net loss in 2013 recorded at $30.5 million.
If the IPO is successful, Scynexis would join a growing number of Triangle firms – especially biotechs – that have gone public in the last year.
Once it goes public, the company will join the Nasdaq under the symbol SCYX.
