Rapport Therapeutics, an organization whose neuroscience expertise comes from Johnson & Johnson, joined the general public markets Friday, elevating $154 million for proof-of-concept testing of a lead program in growth for a standard type of epilepsy.
Rapport had revealed its plans to go public final month. Late Thursday, the biotech priced its providing of 8 million shares at $17 apiece, which was the midpoint of the value vary it set earlier this week. At that value, the Boston-based firm’s IPO raised $136 million. Concurrent with the inventory providing, Rapport raised one other $18 million in a non-public placement, bringing whole proceeds to $154 million.
Shares of Rapport now commerce on the Nasdaq beneath the inventory image “RAPP.” In Rapport’s first day of buying and selling, its shares closed at $20.80 apiece, up 22.3% from the IPO value.
Lead Rapport drug candidate RAP-219 is being developed as a therapy for focal epilepsy, a type of the dysfunction brought on by intermittent irregular electrical exercise in sure elements of the mind. An estimated 1.8 million individuals within the U.S. have focal epilepsy, accounting for 60% of epilepsy sufferers, Rapport mentioned in its IPO submitting. Focal epilepsy will be handled with anti-seizure medicines that hit the AMPA receptor. However this receptor is discovered all through the mind, so hitting it will possibly result in severe unintended effects that lead many sufferers to cease utilizing AMPA-targeting medication.
Rapport goals to extra selectively hit AMPA receptors, which may vastly enhance the aspect impact profile. The corporate’s small molecule medication goal receptor related proteins (RAPs), proteins that regulate receptor expression and performance. RAP-219 targets a RAP for the AMPA receptor discovered solely in sure areas of the mind. Within the IPO submitting, Rapport says this strategy gives the potential for a wider therapeutic index, the vary of doses through which a remedy is efficient with out inflicting unacceptable antagonistic results. The corporate can also be exploring different neurological indications for its lead molecule.
RAP-219 and the RAP platform expertise that developed the drug have been licensed from Janssen, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary. The biotech is getting ready to advance its lead drug candidate to a Part 2a proof-of-concept check. The corporate’s pipeline additionally consists of RAP-199, a drug that targets the identical RAP as RAP-219, however in a manner that gives completely different chemical and pharmacokinetic properties.
Since its 2022 launch, Rapport had raised about $250 million previous to the IPO, the prospectus exhibits. Founding buyers Third Rock Ventures and Johnson & Johnson Innovation—JJDC respectively personal 22.9% and seven% post-IPO stakes of the corporate, in response to the submitting. Arch Enterprise Companions owns a ten.5% stake in Rapport. The personal placement consists of 1.06 million shares offered on the IPO value. The patrons are Sofinnova Ventures and Goldman Sachs, the submitting exhibits. As of the top of the primary quarter of this 12 months, Rapport reported a $193.2 million money place. Rapport mentioned it expects that cash, along with the brand new capital raised, will help the corporate via the top of 2026.
Rapport will put its new capital to work instantly on RAP-219’s mid-stage medical trial, anticipated to start out within the second half of this 12 months. The corporate has budgeted $100 million to take this program via the completion of proof-of-concept trials in focal epilepsy, peripheral neuropathic ache, and bipolar dysfunction. One other $40 million is earmarked for a second multiple-ascending dose research and positron emission tomography trial, and for advancing growth of a long-acting model of RAP-219. The corporate additionally plans to advance RAP-199 via Part 1 growth.
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