Singapore's Aslan Pharma raises $42m in US IPO
Aslan Pharmaceutical, a Singapore-based drug developer that focuses on cancer treatments, has raised $42.2 million in its US IPO. The VC-backed company listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange last June.
Aslan sold 6 million American Depository Shares (ADS) – having initially planned to offload 7.5 million – at $7.03 apiece, according to a filing. None of the company's existing investors made a partial exit through the offering.
Two healthcare-focused VC firms, Cenova Ventures and BioVeda Capital, are Aslan's largest shareholders, with 5.9% and 4.5%, respectively. AVCJ Research's records show that BioVeda provided $12 million in Series A funding in 2011 and then re-upped in the $22 million Series B round two years later, which was led by Cenova. Morningside Ventures and Sagamore Bioventures also took part.
The Series C closed in January 2016 at $43 million. Accuron Technologies, a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, took the lead and was joined by new investors MVP Capital Partners, Haitong International, and Tianda Pharmaceuticals. Additional contributions came from Morningside, BioVeda, Cenova, and Sagamore. This was followed by a $23 million pre-IPO round featuring various Taiwanese investors.
Founded in 2010, Aslan focuses on cancers that are prevalent in Asia but considered orphan diseases in the US and Europe for which there are few approved therapies. Recruitment of patients for orphan diseases is difficult, so Asia offers a unique opportunity to accelerate the development of treatments.
The company has a treatment for biliary tract cancer that is currently being studied in a global pivotal clinical trial, while products targeting gastric cancer and breast cancer have completed phase-two trials. Aslan noted in its prospectus that there are fewer treatments for cancers that are common in Asia because research has focused on the US and European markets.
In Asia, there were more than one million patients with gastric cancer and 200,000 with biliary tract cancer in 2016. This compares to 32,000 and 12,600 in the US. There is only one targeted therapy for first-line gastric cancer treatment and nothing for biliary tract cancer.
Aslan currently does not generate any revenue from product sales and has only generated limited revenue since inception. Net losses amounted to $39.9 million in 2017, up from $9 million the previous year. The proceeds from the offering will be used to finance ongoing trials of the company's products.
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