Dyne Therapeutics Raises $233 Million in IPO to Advance Rare Muscle Disease Pipeline

Dyne Therapeutics raised $233 million in an initial public offering of 12.3 million shares of its common stock at $19.00 per share.

The preclinical biotech, which is developing oligonucleotide therapies for serious monogenic neuromuscular diseases, sold two million more shares than planned priced above the offering range of $16 to $18 per share.

Dyne’s shares will begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “DYN.” In addition, Dyne has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 1.8 million additional shares of common stock at the initial public offering price. The offering is expected to close on Monday, September 21, 2020, subject to customary closing conditions.

Forty-five therapeutics drug developers have completed IPOs since the beginning of the year, raising a combined $8.6 billion. Of these, 18 companies, more than one-third, are focused on developing treatments for rare diseases. These 18 companies have raised a combined $3.5 billion, 40 percent of the money raised by drug developers in IPOs in 2020.

Dyne is developing a broad portfolio of therapeutics for muscle diseases, including programs in the rare genetic wasting diseases myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD).

Dyne’s platform specifically targets muscle, minimizing systemic exposure. The company has completed preclinical studies indicating that this approach can deliver oligonucleotides that degrade disease-causing RNA, potentially restoring muscle health.

The company’s lead program targets DM1, a rare, inherited disorder that causes progressive muscle weakness and other life-limiting complications. DM1 is a monogenic autosomal dominant disease caused by an abnormal expansion in a region of the DMPK gene. There are currently no disease-modifying treatments for DM1, which affects an estimated 40,000 people in the United States.

Dyne’s preclinical therapy consists of a proprietary antibody conjugated with a linker to an antisense oligonucleotide that is designed to reduce the levels of mutant DMPK RNA in the nucleus, releasing splicing proteins, allowing normal mRNA processing and translation of normal proteins, and potentially reversing disease. In preclinical studies the company has observed correction of splicing changes in DM1 patient cells, reversal of myotonia after a single dose in a DM1 model and enhanced muscle distribution as evidenced by reduced levels of cytoplasmic wild type DMPK RNA.