Ikena Oncology, a phase 1 oncology biotech developing small molecule inhibitor therapies, filed on Friday with the SEC to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering.
Ikena Oncology is a targeted oncology company focused on developing novel cancer therapies targeting key signaling pathways that drive the formation and spread of cancer. Since its 2016 inception, the company has built a pipeline of wholly owned and partnered programs focused on genetically defined or biomarker-driven cancers, which enables the targeting of specific patient populations that are most likely to respond to treatment form Ikena's product candidates. Ikena has discovered or developed five oncology programs that include four product candidates in either IND-enabling studies or clinical development.
The company's lead targeted oncology product candidate, IK-930, is an oral small molecule inhibitor of the transcriptional enhanced associate domain, or TEAD, transcription factor in the Hippo signaling pathway. It intends to pursue clinical development of IK-930 across a wide range of tumor types with known Hippo pathway mutations, and plans on submitting an Investigational New Drug (IND) application in the second half of 2021.
The Boston, MA-based company was founded in 2016 and booked $9 million in revenue for the 12 months ended December 31, 2020. It plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol IKNA. Ikena Oncology filed confidentially on January 8, 2021. Jefferies, Cowen, Credit Suisse and William Blair are the joint bookrunners on the deal. No pricing terms were disclosed.
