A small Connecticut biotech throws hat into IPO ring

21 Feb 2023
endpts.com
Executive ChangeIPOFast TrackPhase 1
A biotech looking to treat skin diseases sent in word to the SEC that it wants to go public. Azitra joins a relatively small group of biotechs seeking an IPO in the past few quarters, with only a handful going public in recent memory , including two on back-to-back Fridays this month. The biotech’s lead program is ATR-12, with a Phase Ib to start in the first half of this year for Netherton syndrome, a rare autosomal disease that is marked by inflammation, scaling, and red and dehydrated skin that’s caused by mutations in the SPINK5 gene. The company says there are about 20,000 patients worldwide with the disease and sees a $250 million peak sales opportunity. The trial is expected to read out in the first half of next year. The FDA has assigned it pediatric rare disease designation. Further down the pipeline are ATR-04 for EGFR inhibitorEGFR inhibitor associated rash (Phase Ib first half of next year) and ATR-01 for ichthyosis vulgaris (IND filing in late 2024). An early-stage study testing ATR-04 in cancer therapy-associated rashes was suspended in 2021, according to a clinical trials database update. A trial in 2019 tested it as a cosmetic. The Connecticut biotech, founded in 2014, has pulled together a library of 1,500 bacterial strains to screen for therapeutic characteristics. Leading the company is Francisco Salva, who co-founded Acerta Pharma, which sold to AstraZeneca for about $6 billion in 2016. He also worked on competing BTK inhibitorBTK inhibitor maker Pharmacyclics for a brief two-year period as corporate development senior director from 2008 to 2010. Prior to joining AzitraAzitra in 2021, he was chief executive of fibrotic and inflammatory diseases biotech Complexa, which “went out of business” in 2020, per a former employee’s description on LinkedIn. Partners include Carnegie Mellon University, Yale, Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine and Fred Hutch. AzitraAzitra also has a consumer health program in the works with Bayer for over-the-counter cosmetic products. The Big Pharma’s VC arm has also invested $8 million in the company’s Series B preferred stock. At the end of last year, AzitraAzitra had working capital of $1.9 million and total assets of $7.2 million, per the S1 filing. KdT Ventures, Connecticut Innovations, Bios Partners, Godfrey Capital and Peter Thiel’s Breakout Labs have financed the biotech . With proceeds from the proposed offering, Azitra thinks it could operate for another 12 months. The biotech has 10 employees and full-time consultants, per the SEC paperwork.
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