Global Blood Therapeutics Inc. filed an amended S-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its initial public offering (IPO). The expected price range is anticipated to be $16 to $18 for 6 million shares with an overallotment option for an additional 900,000 shares. The total offering at the maximum price is valued up to $124.2 million. The company intends to list on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol GBT.

The underwriters for the offering are Morgan Stanley, Cowen, Goldman Sachs and Wedbush.

This company is a biopharmaceutical dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing novel therapeutics to treat grievous blood-based disorders. Global Blood is developing its initial product candidate, GBT440, as a once-daily, oral prophylactic therapy for sickle cell disease (SCD) and is currently evaluating GBT440 in both healthy subjects and SCD patients in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind Phase 1/2 clinical trial.

SCD is a disease marked by severe pain “crises,” recurrent hospitalizations, multi-organ damage and early mortality. GBT440 targets the underlying mechanism of red blood cell sickling, which the company believes provides the potential to treat SCD rather than only its associated symptoms.

In addition to GBT440 for the treatment of SCD, Global Blood is leveraging its deep scientific expertise in the chemical and biological mechanisms of blood-based disorders to target hypoxemic pulmonary disorders and hereditary angioedema (HAE). The company owns rights to its product candidate portfolio in the United States, Europe and other major markets.

According to the filing:

We believe there is a significant unmet need in the treatment of SCD. Current treatment options for SCD are limited to hydroxyurea, or HU, blood transfusions and bone marrow transplantation. The utilization of these treatments is significantly limited due to their suboptimal efficacy and significant toxicity. As a result, patients with SCD continue to suffer serious morbidity and premature mortality. A 2014 publication noted that in the United States, SCD results in a decrease of approximately 25 to 30 years in life expectancy.

The company intends to use the proceeds from the offering to further develop GBT440 and to fund new and ongoing research. Apart from this, the company intends to use the remaining proceeds to fund operations.

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