Dicerna, Revance jump in IPO queue
RNAi company Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Watertown, Mass.) and dermatology company Revance Therapeutics Inc. (Newark, Calif.) proposed IPOs on Tuesday, bringing to 10 the number of companies that have jumped in the IPO queue in the last 15 days of 2013. There are now at least 24 biotechs looking to raise money in IPOs.
Dicerna proposed to raise up to $69 million in an IPO underwritten by Jefferies; Leerink; and Stifel. Dicerna is using its Dicer Substrate short interfering RNA (DsiRNA) technology to develop DsiRNA molecules, which are longer than other RNAi molecules and are processed by Dicer, an enzyme involved in the RNAi gene silencing cascade. In 1H14, the company plans to start Phase I testing of DCR-M1711, a DsiRNA targeting v-myc myelocytomatosis viral oncogene homolog ( MYC; c-Myc) mRNA. The compound is in development for MYC-related cancers, with an initial focus on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Dicerna raised $60 million in a series C round in August (see BioCentury, Aug. 5). ...