OncoMed Pharmaceuticals Files for $115-Million IPO


OncoMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. recently announced it is seeking $115 million in an initial public stock offering. The Redwood City-based cancer drug developer, one of the most successful Bay Area biotech companies at raising venture capital over the past 5 years, said it will use proceeds of the IPO to advance its lead drug (demcizumab, or OMP-21M18) and two other drugs into Phase II clinical trials and for programs with partners GlaxoSmithKline and Bayer AG.

OncoMed, led by CEO Paul Hastings, also will use the money to fund research and drug discovery, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The company’s largest shareholders are US Venture Partners, Latterell Venture Parnters and GlaxoSmithKline.

OncoMed is developing monoclonal antibody drugs that target cancer stem cells, a relatively small subpopulation of stem cells in a tumor that drive tumors to grow and spread. The company believes that by stopping these stem cells from renewing themselves, its drugs can stop cancer from recurring. The company, which has alliances with GlaxoSmith Kline and Bayer AG, has three drugs in clinical development, including one for which it filed an investigational new drug application in April with the Food and Drug Administration. Two other drugs are in preclinical development. For more information, visit www.oncomed.com.