Krystal Biotech has filed an S-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding its initial public offering (IPO). No conclusive pricing details were mentioned in the filing; however, the offering is valued up to $34.5 million. The company intends to list its shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol KRYS.
The sole underwriter of the offering is Ladenburg Thalmann.
This is a gene therapy company dedicated to developing and commercializing novel treatments for patients suffering from dermatological diseases. The firm has developed a proprietary gene therapy platform — referred to as the Skin TARgeted Delivery platform, or STAR-D platform — that consists of a patent pending engineered viral vector based on herpes simplex virus 1 and skin-optimized gene transfer technology, to develop off-the-shelf treatments for dermatological diseases for which management believes there are no known effective treatments.
The firm is initially using the STAR-D platform to develop treatments for rare or orphan dermatological indications caused by the absence of or a mutation in a single gene, and plan to leverage its platform to expand the pipeline to include other dermatological indications in the future.
The lead product candidate, KB103, is currently in preclinical development to treat dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB), a rare and severe genetic disease, for which there is currently no approved treatment. DEB affects the skin and mucosal tissues.
Preclinical studies evaluating intradermal and topical delivery of KB103 have been completed, and have demonstrated successful introduction of a functional COL7A1 gene to the host cells and subsequent expression of COL7. The company intends to file an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for KB103 with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the first quarter of 2018.
Krystal intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to further develop its pipeline, with the remainder going toward working capital and general corporate purposes.
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