Ending Minnesota’s IPO drought, medtech company Anteris raises $88 million in NASDAQ listing

Anteris Technologies, a medtech firm pursuing approval for a new minimally invasive heart valve, has raised $88 million in an initial public offering of stock, snapping Minnesota’s yearslong IPO drought.

Previously based in Australia and now headquartered in Eagan, Anteris is developing a transcatheter valve called DurAVR that uses a single piece of bioengineered tissue to treat aortic stenosis, a common condition that can be serious.

By listing on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker “AVR,” Anteris is further cementing its business in the United States and making its structure more logical to follow for health care investors, CEO Wayne Paterson said in an interview.

Anteris is burning through tens of millions of dollars per year and is still several years away from commercializing DurAVR, which needs to produce strong results in a larger clinical trial for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration prior to approval.

Paterson said he was told it was unusual, if not unheard of, for a medtech company to go public in the U.S. before securing FDA approval for its device.

The product is generating excitement, Paterson said, as it could be worth billions of dollars upon approval.

Anteris’ listing on Nasdaq snaps the Twin Cities’ IPO drought; the last major company to go public through IPO was Life Time Group Holdings in September 2021.

Anteris offered 14,800,000 shares through the listing, priced at $6 per share. The stock was trading at about $5.50 per share by lunchtime Monday. The company made its listing on the Australian ASX exchange secondary.

DurAVR is not the first transcatheter heart valve, as medtech giants Edwards Lifesciences and Medtronic also have their own devices on the market in the U.S.

Those valves use three connected pieces of tissue, while Anteris’ device uses a single piece of bioengineered tissue to mimic the human valve as closely as possible. A doctor guides the folded-up valve into the patient’s body using a narrow catheter in a blood vessel and then expands it atop the old one via medical balloon once in place.

Paterson said initial findings from patients in early studies were promising, especially in comparison to results from other companies.

Anteris is spending $70 million to $80 million per year as it prepares valves for the trial, hires staff and works to gain FDA approval. In 2023, it operated at a net loss of roughly $46 million, according to a filing.

Paterson said that level of spending means the market believes the product may be worth “quite a few billion” once approved in the U.S.

The Nasdaq listing affirms Anteris’ identity as a Twin Cities-based company. The company is a member of Medical Alley, a local industry trade group.

“Anteris Technologies is a great example of the innovation and dedication to advancing health care that defines Medical Alley,” Medical Alley President and CEO Roberta Dressen said in statement. “We’re proud to support this valued partner as they achieve this significant milestone and continue to develop life-changing solutions for patients worldwide.”

Anteris marketing director Tyler Kimes said many employees come from the local medtech industry. Kimes said the company is not vying to be the subject of an acquisition but rather working to compete with large medtech competitors, he said.

“You see so many other medtech (companies) kind of built for acquisition … but I think we can build this to launch and compete and add to what is a growing and established footprint of medtech players here in Minneapolis,” Kimes said.

Paterson said the listing serves as a reminder of the bustling activity still happening in the local medtech industry, despite the lack of public offerings in recent years.

“We’re still alive and well in medtech in Minneapolis,” Paterson said, “and we’re doing things like listing on the Nasdaq, and we’re creating products that are … medically really important.”

Patrick Kennedy of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this report.