Vitae Pharmaceuticals, which is using advanced software to design drugs for type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's, filed on Tuesday with the SEC to raise up to $55 million in an initial public offering. The company claims its drug delivery platform, Countour, uses artificial intelligence and sophisticated algorithms to model small molecule drugs and predict their effectiveness. It targets large market opportunities with unmet needs, and recently entered Phase 2 trials for type 2 diabetes and is in Phase 1 trials for Alzheimer's.
Other biotechs have gone public this year that also target type 2 diabetes (Zafgen, ZFGN) and Alzheimer's (Adamas, ADMS). Most drug discovery platforms this year have been based on gene therapy, but Vitae emphasizes its advanced technology.
The Fort Washington, PA-based company, which was founded in 2001 and booked $23 million in collaboration
revenue for the 12 months ended June 30, 2014, plans to list on the NASDAQ under the symbol VTAE. It initially filed confidentially on June 27, 2014. Stifel and BMO Capital Markets are the joint bookrunners on the deal. No pricing terms were disclosed.
