RARE Daily

Sigilon Raises $126 Million in IPO to Advance Its “Living Therapeutics” Platform

December 4, 2020

Sigilon Therapeutics raised $126 million in an upsized initial public offering of 7 million shares of its common stock at $18.00 per share, the 24th biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for rare diseases to go public in 2020, which collectively have raised $4.3 billion in new capital to advance their programs.

In addition to the initial offering, Sigilon granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 1.05 million shares of common stock at the initial public offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions. Shares will trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “SGTX.”

Sigilon will use the proceeds to advance development of functional cures for chronic disorders such as rare blood, lysosomal storage, and endocrine diseases through its “Shielded Living Therapeutics” platform. Founded by Flagship Pioneering in 2016, and more than a decade of work at MIT by academic cofounders Bob Langer and Dan Anderson, Sigilon is developing a pipeline of long lasting cell therapies that can safely exist within the body.

The company said its Afibromer technology—which does not trigger the body’s natural protective response to foreign objects—represents a new class of breakthrough implantable biomaterials. Engineered cells inside these Afibromer capsules secrete therapeutic proteins, enzymes, or factors to provide patients safe and long-lasting treatment for chronic diseases.

Product candidates are designed to be off-the-shelf, durable, controllable and redosable, without requiring modification of the patient’s genes or immunosuppression. Sigilon’s lead experimental therapy SIG-001 is designed to prevent bleeding episodes in patients with moderate-severe to severe hemophilia A by continuously secreting human factor VIII. SIG-001 has been granted Orphan Drug status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Sigilon is currently enrolling patients in a phase 1/2 trial in this indication.

The year has been a blockbuster for IPOs of therapeutic drug developers with 71 companies completing initial public offerings and collectively raising $12.5 billion. As the year comes to a close, companies developing treatments for rare diseases account for approximately one third of the offerings and one third of the total capital raised.

 

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