Rapport Therapeutics, which emerged out of Johnson & Johnson’s neuroscience unit last year, has submitted its pitch for a Nasdaq listing.
The Boston-based startup plans to trade as “RAPP” and didn’t disclose how much it plans to raise, according to a Friday evening SEC filing.
It would be the third neuroscience drug developer to go public this year, along with Contineum Therapeutics and Alto Neuroscience, following growing interest by investors in the field.
And while the IPO market has cooled since a handful of listings in late January and February, earlier Friday, Australia-based radiopharma Telix Pharmaceuticals also submitted its IPO paperwork.
Rapport is working on small molecules for CNS indications and could launch into chronic pain and hearing disorders as well, according to its filing. Last year, it raised back-to-back rounds, including $100 million in March 2023 and a $150 million Series B disclosed just five months later. And in August, CEO Abraham Ceesay told Endpoints News the company had enough to last into 2027.
Entering the public markets would allow Rapport to further bankroll proof-of-concept trials for its lead program in focal epilepsy, peripheral neuropathic pain and bipolar disorder, the company said in the document.
ARCH, Cormorant, Fidelity are some of Rapport’s largest shareholders, with specific breakdowns not listed in the filing. Other investors with more than 5% of Rapport include Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Capital Research and Management Company, Third Rock and Sofinnova Venture Partners.
“The overall sentiment with the public markets is greatly improved in 2024 versus 2023, and there are pretty significant tailwinds in CNS for all the right reasons,” Ceesay told Endpoints in February. “There’s real transformative medicines that are being developed in biotech that are very meaningful and those tailwinds will be very helpful for a company like ours.”
At the top of Rapport’s pipeline is an oral tablet from J&J’s Janssen, known as RAP-219, that targets a receptor associated protein known as TARPg8. It’s an AMPA receptor negative allosteric modulator.
The startup plans to soon start a Phase 2a in adults with drug-resistant focal epilepsy. An entry on the federal government’s trials database says the study is expected to begin June 1.
The IPO proceeds would also help support development of a long-acting injectable version of RAP-219, the biotech said.
David BredtRapport got its start in February 2022 and emerged about a year later with funding from Third Rock Ventures. Its founder and chief scientific officer, David Bredt, led work on RAP and small molecules during his tenure as head of neuroscience at Janssen. His résumé also includes a stint as VP of neuroscience at Eli Lilly.
Ceesay was previously president at another neuroscience biotech that originated as a large pharma carveout. The company, Cerevel Therapeutics, is being bought by AbbVie for $8.7 billion.