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ProNAi Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DNAI), a company developing cancer therapeutics based on DNA interference technology, raised $138 million in an initial public offering, with share prices increasing by more than 80% on the first day of trading. Xconomy reports that this news followed a Series D round of funding of nearly $60 million.
ProNAi Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DNAI), a company developing cancer therapeutics based on DNA interference technology, raised $138 million in an initial public offering, with share prices increasing by more than 80% on the first day of trading. Xconomy reports that this news followed a Series D round of funding of nearly $60 million.
According to the article:
The company sold 8.1 million shares at $17 apiece, and they closed at $31.00, giving the firm an instant $4.4 billion market value.
The company had plenty of traction heading into the IPO. ProNAi’s Series D investment was the largest round of venture capital raised in Michigan’s history, prompting the Michigan Venture Capital Association to give ProNAi its financing deal of the year award last year. Suddenly, a startup that had toiled for years to develop therapies based on technology discovered by researchers at Detroit’s Wayne State University and Karmanos Cancer Institute was on a swiftly moving upward trajectory.