WAVE Life Sciences Pte Ltd. (NASDAQ: WVE) expects to raise $80 million in its upcoming IPO. Based in Singapore, WAVE Life Sciences is a preclinical biopharmaceutical company that designs, develops and markets nucleic acid therapeutic candidates.

WVE will offer 5 million shares at an expected price range of $15 to $17. If the underwriters price the IPO at the midpoint of that range, WVE will have a market capitalization of $319 million.

WAVE Life Sciences filed for the IPO on October 9, 2015.

Lead Underwriters: Jeffries LLC and Leerink Partners LLC

Underwriters: JMP Securities and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey

Business Summary: Preclinical Biopharmaceutical Developing Nucleic Acid Therapeutic Candidates

WAVE Life Sciences is a preclinical biopharmaceutical company that identifies, designs, develops and markets nucleic acid therapeutic candidates. The company is developing nucleic acid therapies to address certain genetic defects by reducing the expression of disease promoting proteins or transforming proteins from dysfunctional to functional.

WAVE Life Sciences utilizes a proprietary synthetic chemistry drug development platform to develop its therapeutics, giving them the capacity to target the underlying causative factors in rare genetic diseases. The company's pipeline is expected to cover multiple oligonucleotide modalities including antisense, exon-skipping and single-stranded RNAi.

Its advanced programs are being studied to address Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Huntington's disease, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

WAVE Life Sciences expects to use the proceeds of the IPO for preclinical and Phase 1 studies, the advancement of its discovery programs, the expansion of its pipeline, and for general working capital and corporate purposes.

The company has 28 employees and is located in Singapore.

Executive Management Overview

CEO, President and Director Paul Bolno M.D. has served in his position since December 2013. Previously, Dr. Bolno served as Head of Asia BD & Investments, Head of Global Neuroscience BD and Vice President of Worldwide Business Development at Glaxo Welcome Manufacturing, Pte. Ltd. Dr. Bolno earned a medical degree from MCP-Hahnemann School of Medicine and an M.B.A. from Drexel University.

Head of Finance Kyle Moran has served WAVE Life Sciences since July 2014. His previous experience includes senior financial positions at Context Advisors, Veroha, Zurich Scudder Investments, JP Morgan Chase and Putnam Investments. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Boston College. He attended the Lemberg Master's Program in international economics and finance at Brandeis University. Mr. Moran is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Potential Competition: Auspex Pharmaceuticals, BioMarin Pharmaceuticals and Others

For the treatment of Huntington's disease, the company faces competition primarily from Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ISIS), Roche (OTCQX:RHHBY), Sangamo Biosciences (NASDAQ:SGMO), Auspex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ASPX), Prana Biotechnology (NASDAQ:PRAN), Siena Biotech, Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and Ipsen.

For the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the company faces competition from BioMarin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BMRN), Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT), and Summit Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SMMT), all of which WAVE Life Sciences believes are developing treatments.

For the treatment of IBD, the company faces competition from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Receptos (NASDAQ:RCPT), Pfizer, Eisai, Mylan (NASDAQ:MYL), Novartis (NYSE:NVS) and Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:VRX).

Financial Overview: Early Stage Losses

WAVE Life Sciences provided the following figures from its financial documents for the six months ended June 30:

As of June 30, 2015:

Conclusion: Hold Off

Although the market for the diseases WVE is focused on (Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Huntington's disease, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)) is large, competition is fierce.

Without any clinical trials, we feel there is a lack of evidence on which to base an investment decision; it is unclear whether WVE will ever be profitable.

We suggest investors hold off for the next wave.