Fast-moving Juno Therapeutics is moving closer to becoming a publicly-traded company. The Seattle biotechnology company today updated is IPO filing with the SEC, indicating that it plans to price shares at $15 to $18 per share.
Juno plans to sell 9.25 million shares, meaning the company could raise $166 million through the offering.
Juno, which is using human T cells as therapeutic entities in the treatment of cancer, filed to go public last month just one year after the company was founded. A spin-out of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Juno has already raised $314 million in venture funding from Arch Venture Partners, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos and others. Its largest shareholder is the Alaska Permanent Fund, which holds a 34 percent stake.
Like most biotech company, Juno is burning cash rapidly, showing $237 million in cash on the books as of September 30th.
“Our longer-term goal is to revolutionize medicine through the application of cell-based therapies,” the company writes in its SEC filing. “In particular, we believe that genetically-engineered T cells have the potential to meaningfully improve survival and quality of life for cancer patients.”
Given its short history, Juno is still years from commercializing its technology.
“Our very short history as an operating company makes any assessment of our future success or viability subject to significant uncertainty,” the company writes. “We will encounter risks and difficulties frequently experienced by early-stage companies in rapidly evolving fields. If we do not address these risks successfully, our business will suffer.”
