Boston-based Imara, advised by WilmerHale, plans to offer 4.5 million shares priced between $16 and $18 per share, raising $75.7 million at midpoint. The IPO is slated to price during the week of March 9, according to research firm Renaissance Capital.
Imara plans to put proceeds toward developing therapies that would treat rare inherited genetic disorders of hemoglobin, which affect red blood cells and are known as hemoglobinopathies. The company is developing a lead product, IMR-687, that would treat sickle cell disease.
"Our goal is to become a leading biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapies for the treatment of hemoglobinopathies," Imara told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a registration statement amended Tuesday.
Imara has yet to generate revenue from product sales, as all its therapies are under development. The clinical-stage company is backed by several investors, led by venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates.
Imara is going public during a quiet stretch for the IPO market. Only one operating company, Canadian waste hauler GFL Environmental Holdings Inc., which priced a $1.4 billion IPO on Tuesday, was scheduled to go public this week.
IPOs are historically quiet through February but tend to pick up as spring approaches. However, few issuers have launched plans to price IPOs in recent weeks amid heavy market volatility, which is driven by uncertainty over how much economic damage the coronavirus outbreak will cause.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 785 points on Tuesday, the latest in a series of seesaw market swings.
Imara shares are slated to trade on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol "IMRA." Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., and SVB Leerink LLC, are underwriting the IPO.
Imara is represented by a WilmerHale team led by partner Cynthia Mazareas and counsel Mhairi Immermann.
The underwriters are represented by a Cooley LLP team led by partners Richard Segal, Divakar Gupta, Marc Recht, and Alison Haggerty.
--Editing by Alanna Weissman.
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