MapLight Therapeutics, a Phase 2 biotech developing therapies for neuropsychiatric and CNS disorders, announced terms for its IPO on Monday.
The Redwood City, CA-based company plans to raise $251 million by offering 14.8 million shares at a price of $17 per share. At the proposed price, MapLight Therapeutics would command a fully diluted market value of $820 million. Cornerstone investor T. Rowe Price has indicated on $40 million worth of shares in the offering (16% of the deal), and the company plans to raise an additional $8 million in a concurrent private placement to Goldman Sachs.
The SEC is currently not declaring registration statements effective due to the ongoing US government shutdown; as a result, MapLight will attempt to go public pursuant to the rarely-used Section 8(a) of the Securities Act. By omitting Rule 473 delaying language and setting IPO terms with a proposed price instead of a proposed range, MapLight's registration statement will automatically become effective after 20 days. MapLight states that it does plan to price after 20 days, but that it will re-evaluate the use of Section 8(a) if the SEC resumes normal operations prior to October 26, 2025. We note that in the face of unexpectedly high or low demand, MapLight may re-file with different offering terms, but any new filing would restart the 20-day period.
MapLight's lead candidate, ML-007C-MA, is a fixed-dose combination of an M1/M4 muscarinic agonist co-formulated with a peripherally acting anticholinergic initially being developed for the treatment of schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease psychosis (ADP). The company is currently conducting two Phase 2 trials of ML-007C-MA: one for the treatment of schizophrenia, with topline results expected in the 2H26; and one for the treatment of ADP, with topline results expected in the 2H27.
MapLight Therapeutics was founded in 2018 and plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol MPLT. Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, Leerink Partners, and Stifel are the joint bookrunners on the deal. It is expected to price the week of Monday, October 27, 2025.
