Atara Biotherapeutics Inc. has filed an S-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its initial public offering (IPO). No terms were given in the filing, but the offering is valued up to $143.75 million. The company will file on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol ATRA.

The underwriters for the offering are Goldman Sachs, Canaccord Genuity, JMP Securities, SunTrust and Citigroup.

Atara is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapeutics for unmet medical needs, with an initial focus on muscle wasting conditions, oncology and viral-associated diseases. It has two groups of product candidates: molecularly targeted biologics and allogeneic, or third-party derived, antigen-specific T-cells, a type of white blood cell.

The molecularly targeted product candidates are biologics that inhibit myostatin and activin, members of the Transforming Growth Factor-Beta, or TGF-ß, protein superfamily, which play roles in the growth and maintenance of muscle and many other body tissues. The lead molecularly targeted product candidate, PINTA 745, is in a Phase 2 clinical trial for protein energy wasting, a condition affecting many end-stage renal disease patients.

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The T-cell product candidates arise from a platform technology designed to produce off-the-shelf, partially human leukocyte antigen matched cellular therapeutics. The most advanced T-cell product candidate, EBV-CTL, is in Phase 2 clinical trials for malignancies associated with Epstein-Barr virus, including EBV-associated lymphoproliferative diseases, or EBV-LPD.

Atara detailed how it intends to use these proceeds in the filing:

• Approximately $43 million for clinical development and related manufacturing for PINTA 745, including the cost of our ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial and our planned confirmatory Phase 2 clinical trial expected to take place thereafter, together with potential additional trials in other indications;
• Approximately $25 million to fund the clinical development and related manufacturing of STM 434, including the cost of our ongoing Phase 1 clinical study and possible expansion of our current Phase 1 clinical trial for STM 434 to include other solid tumors;
• Approximately $72 million for ongoing and future clinical studies with our current T-cell product candidates licensed from MSK including additional studies with EBV-CTL in EBV-LPD and additional studies with CMV-CTL in refractory CMV infection as well as related manufacturing, sponsored research in collaboration with MSK and other required payments to MSK; and
• The remainder to continue to expand and advance our clinical and preclinical pipeline and for working capital and for other general corporate purposes and to potentially acquire or license other product tes, businesses or technologies, although we have no present commitments for any such acquisitions or licenses.

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