Alumis Pushes Through With Smaller IPO, Looks to Raise $250M for Immuno Candidate
Phase 1IPOPhase 2Clinical Result
Pictured: Nasdaq building in New York City/iStock, hapabapa
Alumis on Friday announced that it would proceed with its initial public offering, though with a smaller raise than it had recently hoped.
The San Francisco-based biotech will put more than 13,1 million shares of its common stock up for sale at $16 apiece. Concurrent with its initial public offering (IPO), Alumis will also sell 2.5 million additional shares in a private placement with AyurMaya Capital Management Fund. In total, the company expects to raise $260 million in gross proceeds, before taking away underwriting discounts and commissions.
Alumis can make more money from a 30-day over-allotment option, during which underwriters can purchase up to nearly 1,97 million additional shares of the biotech’s common stock at the IPO price. The company will make its Nasdaq debut on Friday under the stock ticker symbol ALMS. The IPO is expected to close on July 1, 2024.
Morgan Stanley, Leering Partners, Cantor and Guggenheim Securities are the joint book-running managers for the IPO.
Alumis filed its IPO earlier this month but only revealed that it initially targeted a raise of $274 million on Monday, with a per-share price range of $16 to $18. The biotech will use the funds to advance its lead candidate ESK-001, a second-generation TYK2 inhibitorTYK2 inhibitor being developed for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.
In addition to its IPO, Alumis will also have $259 million in Series C funding to support the development of ESK-001. Closed in March 2024, the Series C round was led by Foresite Capital, Samsara BioCapital and venBio Partners.
Soon after, the company posted promising data from the Phase II STRIDE study showing that patients treated with ESK-001 were more likely to achieve a 75% improvement on the Psoriasis Area and Severity Score, a validated tool to measure psoriasis severity. At the time, CEO Martin Babler said that the biotech was preparing to push ESK-001 into Phase III development.
With these data, Alumis is positioning ESK-001 as a rival to Bristol Myers Squibb’s Sotyktu (deucravacitinib) and Takeda’s TAK-279. In its IPO filing earlier this month, Alumis said that these first-generation TYK2 blockersTYK2 blockers “have not been able to achieve complete TYK2 inhibition … limiting their otherwise therapeutic potential.”
According to the company, ESK-001 has the potential to overcome these first-generation limitations “by achieving maximal target inhibition.”
Alumis is also developing A-005, another TYK2 inhibitorTYK2 inhibitor, that can cross into the central nervous system and which is being assessed for neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative conditions. The biotech recently launched its Phase I study of A-005, testing its safety and tolerability in healthy volunteers.
Tristan Manalac is an independent science writer based in Metro Manila, Philippines. Reach out to him on LinkedIn or email him at tristan@tristanmanalac.com or tristan.manalac@biospace.com.
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