IPO Watch: Global Blood Therapeutics Set For Debut

(RTTNews) - Global Blood Therapeutics, a clinical stage company focused on blood-based therapies, is preparing for an initial public offering.

The San Francisco-based company is reportedly planning to raise up to $124.2 million in an IPO that would value it at about $500 million.

Global Blood plans to offer 6 million shares in the IPO within a price range of $16 to $18 a share. The company has also set aside 900,000 shares for its underwriters.

The company is expected to price its IPO on Tuesday and the stock is scheduled to begin trading on Nasdaq with the ticker symbol of "GBT" on Wednesday.

Global Blood is expected to use the net proceeds from the IPO to fund its research activities and clinical trials.

Joint bookrunners for the offering are Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, with Cowen and Wedbush PacGrow as co-managers.

Global Blood was launched in 2012 with funding from healthcare investor Third Rock Ventures as well as Fidelity. Other investors include Deerfield Capital Management, Sabby Capital Management and Wellington Management.

The company is developing novel therapeutics to treat grievous, non-malignant blood-based conditions with significant unmet needs and for which market potential appears promising.

Global Blood's lead drug candidate is GBT440, a potential once daily oral prophylactic therapy for patients with sickle cell disease and for which a phase I/II study is ongoing.

In addition, the company is identifying small molecule leads for an orally administered prophylactic therapy for HAE, and is developing novel hemoglobin modifiers for pulmonary disorders in which increased oxygen delivery is needed.

For the year ended December 2014, Global Blood reported a net loss of $20.8 million compared with a loss of $18.1 million in the prior year.

Global Blood's will be the third IPO of the month from the Bay Area, after Brisbane-based Aimmune Therapeutics (AIMT) and San Francisco-based solar energy provider Sunrun (RUN).