Gene Therapy Developer 4D Molecular Therapeutics Raises $193.2 Million in Upsized IPO

Rare disease gene therapy developer 4D Molecular Therapeutics raised $193.2 million in an upsized initial public offering of 8.4 million shares of its common stock at $23.00 per share.

The company took advantage of the hot market for IPOs of therapeutic drug developers that has reached $12.7 billion raised by 72 companies in 2020 of which $4.5 billion has been raised by 25 companies focused on therapies for rare diseases.

4D Molecular Therapeutics (4DMT) sold 1.4 million shares than anticipated at the top of an upwardly revised range of $22 to $23 a share.  In connection with the offering, 4DMT has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 1.26 million additional shares of common stock. Shares of the company will trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “FDMT.”

4D Molecular is developing precision-guided AAV gene medicines based on directed evolution. The biotech’s proprietary Therapeutic Vector Evolution platform enables customization of AAV vectors to target specific tissue types associated with the underlying disease. These optimized AAV vectors are designed to provide targeted delivery by routine clinical routes, efficient transduction, reduced immunogenicity, and resistance to pre-existing antibodies—attributes that the company says could enable the development of gene therapies that overcome known limitations of conventional AAV vectors and enable 4DMT to pursue previously untreatable patient populations and address a broad range of rare and large market disease markets.

4DMT has initiated three phase 1/2 clinical trials of its gene therapies for the treatment of rare diseases: 4D-310, its wholly owned product candidate for the treatment of Fabry disease; 4D-125 for the treatment of X-linked retinitis pigmentosa, a wholly owned candidate subject to an exclusive option for Roche to develop and commercialize; and 4D-110, a candidate for the treatment of choroideremia that is licensed to Roche.

Proceeds from the IPO will be used to advance its gene therapy product candidates through initial clinical proof-of-concept in patients, to advance its proprietary pipeline and next-generation Therapeutic Vector Evolution platform, and to expand its internal GMP manufacturing capabilities.