Gelesis, which is developing a weight loss capsule for patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes, filed on Wednesday with the SEC to raise up to $60 million in an initial public offering.
The company's lead candidate uses its proprietary hydrogel technology and is designed to work mechanically in the GI tract rather than act chemically through absorption in the blood stream. Although it is a capsule, the drug will be regulated as a medical device.
Last year saw two biotech IPOs aimed at weight loss: Neothetics (NEOT; -42%) and Zafgen (ZAFG; +136%).
The Boston, MA-based company, which was founded in 2006, plans to list on the NASDAQ under the symbol GLSS. Gelesis initially filed confidentially on February 6, 2015. Piper Jaffray, Stifel and Guggenheim Securities are the joint bookrunners on the deal. No pricing terms were disclosed.
