NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Molecular diagnostics firm T2 Biosystems has filed for an initial public offering, seeking to raise as much as $69 million in proceeds.
The Lexington, Mass.-based firm plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq Global Market under ticker symbol "TTOO," it said in its Form S-1 filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. The underwriters on the offering are Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Leerink Partners, and Janney Montgomery Scott.
T2 Bio has not priced its shares or said how many shares it plans to offer.
Founded in 2006, T2 Bio has developed a technology platform called T2 Magnetic Resonance Platform, or T2MR, which it said in its SEC document "offers a rapid, sensitive, and simple alternative to existing diagnostic methodologies."
The technology, which comes out of research done at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, uses superparamagnetic nanoparticles to essentially measure the reaction of water molecules in the presence of magnetic fields. The reaction is commonly referred to as the T2 signal, and when a binding event occurs inside a sample, the T2 signal changes, making it possible to detect the presence of an analyte. Because the T2 signal is a time-based signal, calibration curves can be created, allowing the analyte to be quantified, as well.
The company said that it is initially developing T2MR to target sepsis and hemostasis, and it has completed a pivotal clinical trial for its T2Dx instrument and T2 Candida panel. In May T2 Bio filed a 510(k) premarket submission with the US Food and Drug Administration for the T2Dx system and T2 Candida test with the goal of launching the products during the first half of 2015.
Also in the pipeline is a test for bacterial sepsis infections called T2Bacteria and a test for hemostasis called T2HemoStat. Clinical trials for T2Bacteria are planned for the second half of 2015 and for T2HemoStat in the second half of 2016. The combined addressable market opportunity for sepsis and hemostasis is $3 billion in the US, T2 Bio said in its SEC document.
In 2013, the company posted $266,000 in research and grant revenues, up from $19,000 in 2012. Its net loss last year totaled $20.6 million, up from a net loss of $14.5 million.
During the first quarter of 2014, T2 Bio had no research and grant revenue, the same as in Q1 2013. Its net loss rose to $6.9 million from $4.6 million in Q1 2013. The company said it had $23.7 million in cash and cash equivalents as of March 31.
T2 Bio's management team includes President and CEO John McDonough; CFO Marc Jones; COO Sarah Kalil; CSO Thomas Lowery; and CMO Michael Pfaller.
The company is the fourth in the omics and molecular diagnostics space to file for an IPO in 2014, following filings by Roka Bioscience, DermTech International, Ariosa Diagnostics, and Signal Genetics, which went public in mid-June.