A Day After Nabbing $55 Million, Parkinson's Biotech Civitas Therapeutics Files For $86 Million IPO

A Day After Nabbing $55 Million, Parkinson's Biotech Civitas Therapeutics Files For $86 Million IPO A Day After Nabbing $55 Million, Parkinson's Biotech Civitas Therapeutics Files For $86 Million IPO

August 27, 2014

By Krystle Vermes, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

Civitas Therapeutics , a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company that focuses on therapeutic treatment for Parkinson’s disease, filed for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.

Civitas is looking to raise approximately $86 million in its initial public offering. The company will be listed as CVTS on NASDAQ. J.P. Morgan and BofA Merrill Lynch are the joint bookrunners. The number and price range of the stocks has not been determined.

Civitas’ Funding
Prior to filing for an IPO with the SEC, Civitas announced on Aug. 26 that it had raised $55 million in a Series C round of funding. Existing investors Alkermes, Bay City Capital, Canaan Partners, Fountain Healthcare Partners, Longitude Capital, RA Capital, and Wellington Management Company, LLP all took part in the round.

“The proceeds from this financing round will be used towards the upcoming Phase 3 clinical trials for our lead candidate, CVT-301, an inhaled formulation of levodopa (L-dopa) being developed for rapid and reliable relief from debilitating motor fluctuations, known as OFF episodes, associated with Parkinson’s disease, as well as for the development of additional, early stage pipeline programs,” said Mark Iwicki, President and Chief Executive Officer of Civitas Therapeutics, following the closing of the funding round.

The Progression of CVT-301
CVT-301 is a self-administered, adjunctive, as needed, inhaled L-dopa therapy for OFF episodes in patients living with Parkinson’s disease. It delivers L-dopa to the brain quickly to the brain, and it’s meant to be used in combination with a patient’s individually optimized oral L-dopa regimen.

In April, Civitas announced the results of a Phase 2b clinical trial of CVT-301, showing that the treatment can have a positive impact on patients. Researchers found that CVT-301 was well tolerated by patients who participated in the experiments.

“We are extremely pleased that we met our primary endpoints in our Phase 2b trial with statistical significance, demonstrating that CVT-301 was safe and well tolerated and provides patients with a rapid, clinically important improvement in motor function. CVT-301 provided onset of action by 10 minutes with durable effects lasting for at least 60 minutes,” said Mark Iwicki, President and CEO of Civitas. “CVT-301 is being developed to address a significant unmet need facing Parkinson’s disease patients today, and these results, particularly the efficacy and ease-of-use seen in the outpatient setting, give us confidence that CVT-301 can have a transformative impact on the daily lives of patients.”

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