RNAi biotech City hauls in $200m in upsized IPO
John Maraganore, co-founder and executive chair of City Therapeutics.
City Therapeutics has finalised its IPO, raising $200 million for a pipeline of RNA interference (RNAi) therapies headed by a novel anticoagulant drug.
The listing was priced at $18, in the middle of the company's targeted $17 to $19 range, although the number of shares offered rose from 9.7 million to 11.1 million, swelling the proceeds from an initial mid-range estimate of around $175 million, and should cover its costs until the end of 2028. The stock is due to start trading on the Nasdaq today under the CTY symbol.
The proceeds of the IPO could increase by around $30 million if the underwriters take up options on another 1.7 million shares.
Three-year-old City, which is chaired by former Alnylam CEO John Maraganore, has earmarked $30 million of the proceeds to fund the clinical development of CITY-FXI, an RNAi targeting coagulation Factor XI, which has emerged in recent years as a target for novel anticoagulant therapies.
CITY-FXI is currently in a phase 1 safety study, and the Massachusetts biotech will spend the new cash on a phase 2 trial in total knee arthroplasty (TKA), a clinical setting in which patients are at increased risk of postoperative clotting complications. It expects to start that trial in the middle of next year.
Another $20 million has been set aside for the clinical development of CITY-RBP4, a potentially first-in-class RNAi for the inherited retinal disorder Stargardt disease, as well as geographic atrophy, a complication of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and is also in early-stage clinical development.
A third candidate has now been selected for clinical development, transferrin receptor 2-targeting CITY-TFR2, and City is allocating $40 million to advance it as a treatment for anaemia associated with chronic disease, including myelofibrosis.
The lion's share of the cash injection, some $70 million, will be used to refine City's drug discovery engine, based on 'triggers' that harness RNAi machinery in cells, novel delivery conjugates like GalNAc, and target discovery capabilities. It will also be used to usher additional candidates into preclinical development that will target eye and central nervous system indications.
The IPO – one of more than 25 completed by biotechs on the Nasdaq in 2026 – comes just a few months after City raised $99.5 million in Series B venture financing, and two years after it emerged onto the scene with a $135 million first round. Since its founding, it has also forged R&D partnerships with Bausch + Lomb and Biogen, respectively for ophthalmology and CNS programmes.
