Cancer drug developer ChemoCentryx cancels IPO

Mountain View, Calif.-based biotech firm ChemoCentryx announced that it withdrew its filing to go public, citing (as per usual) unfavorable market conditions. The company, which develops drugs to treat cancer and autoimmune ailments like Crohn’s disease, raked in $50 million from its partner GlaxoSmithKline just last month, but the downturn-prompted freeze on IPOs has yet to thaw.

While only four health care companies have been able to go public this year, the company says that the $57.5 million total contributed by GSK is roughly the same amount it hoped to raise through an IPO, reports VentureWire.

GSK and ChemoCentryx first struck the symbiotic deal in 2006, with the former providing a payday of $63.5 million, making it the company’s second largest investor. It has also received capital from Alta Partners, HBM BioVentures and OrbiMed Advisors.

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