Amid a frozen-over IPO landscape, LB Pharmaceuticals has filed to go public to fund a pivotal schizophrenia study for its modification of an ex-Sanofi drug.
The New York-based biotech didn’t lay out how much it expected to make from the offering, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) document filed Aug. 22.
The CNS company needs cash badly, with only $14 million in the bank as of June 30, plus an accumulated deficit of $114 million.
In May, the biotech implemented a layoff round designed to stretch its cash runway. The workforce cuts included the company’s chief financial officer and chief scientific officer, according to the SEC filing. All actions related to the layoffs are expected to be completed by May 30, 2026.
In January, LB Pharma shared top-line data from a phase 2 schizophrenia trial in which its oral schizophrenia candidate was tied to statistically significant changes on an industry scale measuring symptoms after four weeks of treatment.
LB-102 is a modified version of amisulpride, a dopamine inhibitor developed in the 1980s and marketed by Sanofi as a schizophrenia drug—Solian—outside the U.S. High doses of amisulpride are needed to achieve the optimum level of dopamine receptor occupancy.
Tolerability is central to LB Pharma’s pitch for the schizophrenia market, which is currently served by some drugs that are associated with side effects such as sedation and weight gain.
In the midstage study, LB Pharma reported just one case of sedation across the 251 patients who took LB-102. Average placebo-adjusted weight gain was 4.4 pounds.
Now, the company is looking for a way to fund a pivotal, six-week phase 3 trial for acute schizophrenia and new drug application (NDA) plans.
At the start of this year, former Carmot Therapeutics leader Heather Turner stepped in as CEO at LB Pharma. Turner led obesity biotech Carmot up until its $2.7 billion Roche buyout at the end of 2023.
In the past, LB Pharma has raised money from Deep Track Capital, TCG Crossover, Vida Ventures and Pontifax.