Graybug Vision, founded out of Johns Hopkins, expects to raise $90M in IPO

When stocks started trading on Friday, it marked a debut in the public markets for a company founded out of Johns Hopkins research that maintains an office in Baltimore.

Graybug Vision, now listed on the NASDAQ as GRAY, expects to raise $90 million in the initial public offering. The company said it went public with an “upsized” public offering, with shares at $16.

Please join us in welcoming Graybug Vision, Inc. to the @Nasdaq family! 👏#NasdaqListed $GRAY pic.twitter.com/LIRDfSeZUB

— Nasdaq (@Nasdaq) September 25, 2020

Founded in 2011, the Redwood City, California-based biopharmaceutical company is developing treatments for eye diseases that cause blindness. It expects to use the proceeds from the IPO to fund clinical trials for separate drugs it is developing to treat age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma, respectively.

The drug delivery technology at the heart of these treatments was licensed from Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University, where the initial technology was developed at the Wilmer Eye Institute by cofounders Dr. Justin Hanes, who is the institute’s director of nanomedicine, Dr. Peter A. Campochiaro and Dr. Peter J. McDonnell. Christy Wyskiel is a cofounder and served as COO of the company prior to taking the helm of Johns Hopkins’ efforts to spur startups and commercialization as a special adviser to the university president.

“We are proud of the history we share with leaders like Justin Hanes, Peter Campochiaro and Christy Wyskiel who did the groundbreaking research and led the spin-out of Graybug Vision in 2011,” said CEO Fred Guerard. “We will continue to collaborate with Johns Hopkins to advance our scientific research.”

Super excited that Graybug Vision, a company I started with @JohnsHopkins colleagues, went public today. Graybug will raise about $90-100million to continue development of drugs for ocular diseases that cause blindness (including #AMD and #glaucoma). https://t.co/DbJaLU9PUm

— Justin Hanes (@JustinHanesPhD) September 25, 2020

Based out of Redwood City, California, the company has about half of its roughly 40-member team in Baltimore. It’s an office and lab space off Holabird Avenue on the southeastern edge of Baltimore. The company’s filing with the SEC says it has extended the lease there through 2023. As to the question of potential growth following the funding, “we will be assessing our needs for expansion of our research facilities as our pipeline projects progress,” Guerard said.

Per the S-1, the company’s prime investors include Deerfield Management, OrbiMed Advisors, Hatteras Venture Partners, CBC Group and Crown Venture Fund.