Accelerated Pharma puts the brakes on IPO

After nearly a year and three term revisions, Accelerated Pharma is pulling its initial public offering.

The Westport, CT-based biotech, which is working on a platinum-based chemotherapy optimized by genomic screening, filed last October for a $17 million IPO, with a range of between $8 and $10 for 1.88 million shares.

But this was revised a number of times, and this week it pulled out of its scaled-down attempt for an $8 million IPO.

Unlike the IPO graveyard of 2016, this is a rare sight in 2017, when in recent months so many other biotechs have been able to get off their offerings, and so few have had to withdraw.

According to the biotech’s original S-1 form to the SEC, it had planned to use the cash for its genomic tech to "enhance the development of pre-existing pharmaceutical products for the treatment of various cancer indications."

Its lead product candidate, Picoplatin, is described by the company as a "new generation" platinum-based cancer therapy that could be used in different formulations, as a single agent or combined with other anti-cancer agents, to treat a number of cancer indications.

The company explained in its filing: "The goal of our genomics program with respect to Picoplatin is to use our genomics tools with associated predictive models to select patients who will respond to Picoplatin prospectively. Our genomics technology will be designed to both identify patients who will and who will not benefit from Picoplatin […] before such patients begin receiving therapy."

The biotech had said last October that it was seeking to start phase 2 trials both in colorectal cancer and squamous cell cancer of the head-and-neck "over the next 24 months" in order to "determine the genomic signatures for Picoplatin with respect to these indications." It’s not clear without funds if it can still do this financially.

Accelerated Pharma had aimed to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol "ACCP." Its CEO and president Michael Fonstein owns the majority of the company’s stock, 28.4% before the offering last year, while Tallikut Pharmaceuticals had a 17.6% stake.