Heart drug developer Kardigan targets $1.4 billion valuation in US IPO

By Prakhar Srivastava

June 11 (Reuters) - Clinical-stage ‌biotech Kardigan ​is targeting ​a valuation of up to $1.4 billion in its initial public offering in the United States, it said on Thursday, as ‌the company seeks funding to advance the development of three late-stage ⁠cardiovascular drug candidates.

The developer of precision medicines for cardiovascular diseases is seeking to raise up ‌to $373.3 million by offering 23.3 ‌million shares priced between $14 and $16 each.

The IPO comes as the biotech market shows signs of recovery, with investors returning to healthcare companies that have ​advanced clinical programs and clearer paths toward commercialization.

The offering follows Parabilis Medicines' Nasdaq debut on Wednesday, when the drug developer's shares surged in ⁠their first day of trading.

"We have seen a clear uptick in biotech IPOs in recent months, with ​healthcare IPO activity already surpassing last year's deal flow, which shows that the IPO window for the sector is open ​again," said IPOX Research Associate Lukas Muehlbauer.

However, Muehlbauer ‌said the biotech IPO market is not a return to the 2020-2021 boom, adding that investors remained selective and ⁠favored companies with clinical progress and clearer paths to FDA approval.

The company is advancing three late-stage experimental therapies – danicamtiv for genetic dilated cardiomyopathy, ataciguat for calcific aortic valve ⁠stenosis, and tonlamarsen targeting hepatic angiotensinogen for blood pressure management in acute severe hypertension.

Kardigan plans ​to use the proceeds from the offering, along with existing cash, to fund clinical development of the three drugs, as well as for other research, working capital and general corporate ‌purposes.

Research and development expenses more than doubled to $45.1 million in the quarter ended March 31 from a year ago, ‌primarily due to increased clinical development activity across Kardigan's pipeline.

The Princeton, New Jersey-based ⁠company will list on the ‌Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "KARD."

J.P. ​Morgan, Jefferies, Leerink Partners and TD Cowen are the underwriters for the offering.

(Reporting by Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by ‌Shailesh Kuber)

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