Second Time Charm: Sagimet Biosciences Seeks Public Debut With $75M IPO

On Friday, Sagimet Biosciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, filed with the SEC to raise up to $75 million in an initial public offering for the second time.

It had previously filed in April 2021 to raise $75 million before withdrawing in March 2022. 

The company is focused on developing novel therapeutics called fatty acid synthase (FASN) inhibitors targeting dysfunctional metabolic pathways in diseases. 

The lead drug candidate, denifanstat, is an oral, once-daily pill and selective FASN inhibitor in development for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

Denifanstat has been studied in over 600 people and is currently testing it in the FASCINATE-2 Phase 2b trial in NASH. 

Recently, Sagimet Biosciences announced an oral presentation of data from the planned interim analysis of a prespecified subset of patients at week 26 of the Phase 2b FASCINATE-2 clinical trial of denifanstat at the European Association for the Study of the Liver Congress.

Denifanstat was well-tolerated and met the primary endpoint in the planned interim readout, with 67% of treated patients achieving ≥30% reductions in liver fat at week 26 compared to 18% placebo.

Topline week 52 liver biopsy results are expected in the first quarter of 2024.

Sagimet Biosciences was founded in 2006 and plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol SGMT.