entertainment

SAN FRANCISCO — Six months into his tenure as CEO of cancer startup FogPharma, Mathai Mammen is taking the stage at the Westin St. Francis Tuesday for what he’s calling a “big unveil” of how he’s reshaping the biotech. And he’s prepared to go against the grain.

Perhaps the most important thing he’s telling investors at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference is that he plans to eventually pursue a rare Series E round, rather than an IPO or seeking out acquisition offers.

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FogPharma last raised money in November 2022, and will need more cash to bring its lead drug past its ongoing Phase 1/2 trial. Most other biotechs in this position are anxiously eyeing the capital markets, hoping that conditions improve and make an IPO more feasible. But Mammen doesn’t see the point, at this stage. “There’s no reason to be a public company. I don’t know why you’d want to be, really,” he told STAT ahead of FogPharma’s presentation.

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