Seattle biotech firm Silverback Therapeutics aims for $100M IPO

Seattle biotechnology company Silverback Therapeutics has filed preliminary plans to raise $100 million or more in an initial public offering. 

The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, which has one product candidate in an early clinical trial targeting metastatic solid tumors, says its technology aims to “to create potent therapeutic molecules that can be systemically administered to patients, but that act only at the sites of disease, sparing healthy tissues from unwanted side effects.”

The company, founded in 2016, previously has raised more than $218 million, according to a Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Silverback’s filing did not indicate the IPO’s intended price or number of shares. Its lead underwriters are Goldman Sachs, SVB Leerink and Stifel.

Several other local biotech companies have sold shares this year, riding a wave of investor enthusiasm as the COVID-19 pandemic underscores the sector’s importance. Athira Pharma raised about $85 million through an IPO in June, while  Adaptive Biotechnologies raised about $240 million in additional financing last summer after going public in December 2019.