Verrica Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: VRCA)

Verrica Pharmaceuticals – a biopharmaceutical firm that focuses on identifying, developing and commercializing innovative solutions to unmet needs in medical dermatology – is going public on Wednesday, June 14, 2018.

The West Chester, Pennsylvania-based company laid out the terms for its offering on Tuesday last week, saying it will offer 5 million shares at a price range of $14 to $16.

The company’s lead product candidates include VP-102 for treating topical dermatological conditions/molluscum and VP-103 for treating plantar warts.

In its prospectus, the company says that VP-102 is likely to become the first approved product for treating molluscum.

The active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in VP-102 also carries the potential to be “characterized as a new chemical entity, or NCE” by the FDA.

The company is currently recruiting molluscum patients to examine the efficacy and safety of VP-102 in the treatment of the condition.

Verrica is expected to report the results of the clinical trials of both VP-102 and VP-103 within the first six months of next year.

If the results are positive, the pharma expects to forward a New Drug Application with the FDA under a special protocol assessment.

At the mid-point of the proposed price range ($19), the company is likely to raise up to $75 million. It would also have a post-IPO market cap of $374 million prior to any over-allotment.

According to its paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Verrica plans to trade under the ticker symbol “VRCA” on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Cowen, BofA Merrill Lynch, and Jefferies are acting as the underwriters for the initial public offering.

Verrica plans to use approximately $61 million of net proceeds from the offering to complete its planned clinical trials, seek regulatory approval and finance the commercial launch of its molluscum treatment drug, VP-102.

It also intends to use about $12 million to advance the clinical development of the drug for common warts treatment. Verrica will use the remainder for other general corporate purposes such as development of VP-102 and VP-103 for additional indications.

The pharma wants to prove that VP-102 is effective at treating molluscum, get an approval from the FDA, and take command of a market worth between $2 billion to $4 billion.

Other competitive pharmaceuticals that are currently developing molluscum treatments, include Cutanea Life Sciences, Leo Pharma, Novan, Veloce Biopharma, and Aclaris Therapeutics.

Verrica Pharmaceutical was founded in 2013 and is under the leadership of president and chief executive officer Ted White.

Before joining the company at the beginning of the year, White was the general manager and president of Aqua Pharmaceuticals. He also worked at Novartis for over two decades.

Among the institutional investors with high stakes in the pharmaceutical, include OrbiMed Private Investments (6.4%), Perceptive Life Sciences (12.1%), and PBM VP Holdings (58.4%). Verrica had $1.6 million in total liabilities and $27.5 million in cash as of March 31, 2018.

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