Benzinga | Apr 22, 2021 03:11PM EDT

Newly Launched Centessa Pharmaceuticals Plans $100M Debut On NASDAQ

* Just two months after Centessa Pharmaceuticals launched after the merger of 10 private biotech companies, the company has filed a $100 million IPO for listing on NASDAQ.

* Founded by Medicxi, Centessa in February raised a $250 million Series A round of funding.

* The Centessa portfolio consists of four clinical-stage programs, including two in late-stage clinical development and more than ten additional programs.

* Centessa's most advanced candidate is lixivaptan, under development from one of the combined companies, Palladio Biosciences.

* Lixivaptan is an oral non-peptide, a new chemical agent that works by selectively suppressing the activity of the hormone vasopressin at the V2 receptor being developed for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

* The company has two Phase 2 candidates in its pipeline. SerpinPC for hemophilia A and B works as a specific inhibitor of the anticoagulant protease-activated protein C (APC).

* Imgatuzumab, a humanized, non-fucosylated, anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody, treats cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma other solid tumor indications.

* Another Centessa subsidiary, Orexia Therapeutics, is developing oral and intranasal orexin receptor agonists to treat narcolepsy type 1.

* Centessa filed to sell American Deposit Shares on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "CNTA."