MapLight Therapeutics, a biotechnology company making medicines for neurological diseases, filed plans for an initial public offering on Friday.
In outlining an offering, MapLight aims to become the second drugmaker to recently price a sizable IPO following a monthslong drought. LB Pharmaceuticals raised $285 million earlier this month, but the last company to carry out a large offering before that was Aardvark Therapeutics in February, according to BioPharma Dive data.
The Redwood City, California biotech is developing its lead drug as a potential treatment for schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease psychosis. MapLight’s ML-007C-MA activates a pair of proteins called muscarinic receptors, which help control the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. In that way, the drug is designed similarly to Cobenfy, the focus of Bristol Myers Squibb’s $14 billion acquisition of Karuna Therapeutics.
Cobenfy proved in testing it could ease symptoms of schizophrenia without some of the side effects seen with existing drugs. The FDA cleared it in September, and its use could grow if an ongoing late-stage study in Alzheimer’s disease psychosis is successful.
MapLight contends there’s room for improvement. In its IPO prospectus, the company noted how its own drug might be dosed more conveniently and mitigate some of the side effects still seen with Cobenfy. Phase 2 studies are underway in both schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s psychosis, and earlier testing has suggested a once or twice daily dose might be effective and not require a patient to fast for a short time beforehand.
Cobenfy, comparatively, is taken twice daily for schizophrenia and treatment involves a multi-day titration period. Patients in Bristol Myers’ ongoing Alzheimer’s trial are getting thrice daily doses, MapLight noted.
MapLight, though, faces other competitors too, among them Neumora — a biotech also developing a muscarinic receptor-targeting drug — and AbbVie, which acquired neurology company Cerevel Therapeutics for its own Cobenfy competitor, emraclidine.
MapLight expects results from its schizophrenia trial in 2026 and the Alzheimer’s psychosis study in 2027. The company also has treatments in its pipeline are treatments for autism, Parkinson’s disease and “hyperactivity/impulsivity.”
To date, MapLight has raised $511 million in venture capital funding, according to its IPO filing. Its most recent financing came via a $372.5 million Series D round in July.
