(Reuters) -Neumora Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical firm backed by biotech Amgen and Japan’s SoftBank, on Friday filed for an initial public offering of its shares in New York.
The filing comes at a time of renewed investor interest in IPOs following a flurry of deals in the United States and European markets, which have over the last year seen many high-profile startups shelve their listing plans due to market volatility.
Neumora’s lead drug candidate navacaprant is a potential oral treatment of major depressive disorder. The company anticipates results from the first of its three late-stage trials of the drug in the second half of 2024.
Navacaprant helped reduce symptoms of depression in patients with moderate-to-severe forms of the disorder in a mid-stage trial, the company had said last month.
Neumora did not disclose the size, timetable or other details of the offering in its filing with the U.S. securities regulator.
The company, which is also backed by affiliates of Arch Venture Partners, expects to list its shares on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “NMRA”.
Neumora last month named former AbbVie executive Henry Gosebruch its new CEO, replacing co-founder Paul Berns.
Amgen had in 2021 made a $100-million equity investment in Neumora Therapeutics, which in return also got global rights to develop and sell certain of Amgen’s experimental drugs for neurodegenerative diseases.
JPMorgan and Bank of America are the lead underwriters for the offering.
(Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat and Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
