Six more biotechs price public debuts just before the start of the weekend

30 Jul 2021
endpts.com
Gene TherapyAntibodyCell TherapySmall molecular drugIPO
Editor’s note: Interested in following biopharma’s fast-paced IPO market? You can bookmark our IPO Tracker here. Another six biotechs priced IPOs on Thursday and Friday, joining this week’s big rush to Wall Street. Biotech companies have raised more than $11.7 billion so far this year, closing in on last year’s record $16.5 billion raise. Scroll down for everything you need to know about the latest companies hitting Nasdaq. Tenaya Therapeutics catches IPO window months after crossover round Upon pulling in a $106 million crossover round back in March, Tenaya Therapeutics CEO Faraz Ali told Endpoints News that the company wasn’t planning on “opportunistically trying to catch an IPO window” — that they’d wait until the science was ready. On Thursday, the company priced a $180 million IPO, offering an upsized 12 million shares at $15 apiece (the midpoint of a $14 to $16 range). Tenaya had initially filed for a $100 million earlier this month, though many companies in the last year and a half have gone on to raise much more than those initial estimates. The California-based biotech’s overall mission is to examine how fresh sources of regenerative cells could potentially repair a damaged heart. It’s also focused on gene therapies and precision medicines as well. A good chunk of the IPO funding ($35 million to $40 million) will go straight into Tenaya’s lead gene therapy candidate, which targets genetic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy due to mutations in the MYBPC3 gene. That candidate’s headed for the clinic in 2022, according to the S-1/A. Another $10 million to $15 million is tagged for the company’s lead candidate from its precision medicine platform: a small molecule inhibitor of HDAC6i, which Tenaya says is also headed for the clinic next year. The company believes that candidate has potential in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, and genetic dilated cardiomyopathy. The Column Group, a returning investor in Tenaya, holds 25.19% of the company’s shares, according to the S-1/A, while Ali controls a 1.34% piece. Tenaya will list under the ticker $TNYA. After years of flying under the radar, Immuneering makes the jump to Wall Street Immuneering has kept a fairly low profile since launching with $17 million back in 2019. That is, until it landed another $62 million and recruited Jefferies analyst Biren Amin as CFO earlier this year. Now, the Cambridge, MA-based biotech is hopping onto Nasdaq with a $112.5 million IPO. Biren Amin After penciling in a $100 million raise at the beginning of this month, Immuneering offered 7.5 million shares at $15 apiece, the midpoint of a $14 to $16 range. The company’s oncology programs target mutations of the MAPK and mTOR pathways, which run parallel to each other and get activated in more than half of cancers. Between $33 million and $38 million will be used to bring Immuneering’s lead candidate, a dual-MEK inhibitor dubbed IMM-1-104, into the clinic for the treatment of advanced solid tumors in patients harboring RAS mutations, according to the S-1/A. Immuneering plans on submitting an IND for that candidate in the first quarter of 2022. Another $38 million to $43 million will fund the development of other candidates in oncology and neuroscience, the company said. Harvard MBA Ben Zeskind, who helms the company, now owns 13.7% of shares, according to the S-1/A. Citadel and Cormorant Asset Management each have a 7% piece of the pie. Immuneering will list under the ticker $IMRX. Rani Therapeutics brings robotic pill to Nasdaq in disappointing launch Former Rani Therapeutics CEO Mir Imran said back in January 2020 that an IPO was a “distinct possibility” roughly a year from then. After a year and a half, and a $69 million Series E round, the company has finally priced a $73.3 million public debut. Mir Imran The biotech, which is working on a robotic pill to replace injectable drugs, initially penciled in a $100 million raise earlier this month. But it ended up bringing in slightly less, offering about 6.66 million shares at $11 apiece — much lower than the anticipated $14 to $16 range. While the idea of turning injectable drugs into pills isn’t new, Rani’s approach makes use of an enteric coating that protects the pill from the acidic ambience of the stomach, then dissolves as the pill moves into the intestine and pH levels rise. A chemical reaction inflates a balloon, and the pressure pushes a dissolvable microneedle into the intestinal wall. The injection is pain-free, a Rani spokesperson said. And because the technology is agnostic to the payload, Rani believes it could be used to deliver peptides, proteins and antibodies. About $45 million to $55 million from the IPO proceeds will be used to advance Rani’s internal pipeline, which includes its lead program with octreotide, an off-patent biologic that treats the hormonal disorder acromegaly. The injectable drug is currently approved by both the FDA and EMA, and Rani said it got the Phase I results it was looking for back in January 2020, when the 58-person study in healthy volunteers demonstrated a 65% “bioavailability” for the pill relative to the injectable. Another $25 million to $35 million will be used to advance Rani’s manufacturing scale-up and automation, according to the S-1/A. Imran owns 53.5% of shares, the document states. Rani will list under the ticker $RANI. After putting off plans to go public, IN8bio prices IPO months later After delaying plans for a public debut back in November, IN8bio has officially priced a $40 million IPO, raising slightly less than it penciled in while setting the terms last week. IN8bio offered 4 million shares at $10 apiece, the low end of a $10 to $12 range. The company had initially filed in October for an $86 million raise, with plans to offer 4.7 million shares at a range of $15 to $17 apiece. But it later backed out, offering no explanation for the hold-up. The team is working on genetically modified gamma delta T cell therapies, with two Phase I candidates for glioblastoma and leukemia, respectively. Between $8 million and $13 million will go toward INB-200, the glioblastoma candidate, which is expected to produce topline results from a second cohort later this year. Another $1 and $2 million is set aside for INB-100, the leukemia candidate, which is set for a topline readout from all Phase I cohorts in 2023, according to the S-1/A. Bios Equity Partners holds 35.3% of IN8bio’s shares, while CEO William Ho has another 13.6%. IN8bio also says it plans on filing three INDs between the first half of 2022 and 2023. It will list under the ticker $INAB. Omega goes public on the momentum of a massive crossover round On the heels of a $126 million crossover round in March, Flagship-backed Omega Therapeutics has priced a $125.8 million IPO to take its “epigenomic controllers” into the clinic. Omega — which had initially penciled in a $100 million raise earlier this month — offered 7.4 million shares at $17 a piece, the midpoint of a $16 to $18 range. The company is using its discovery platform to target what it calls insulated genomic domains (IGDs), paired DNA sites with a protein binder that up- or down-regulate gene expression in localized “zip codes.” By targeting epigenomics, Omega believes it can modulate gene expression in a hyper-targeted way without having to add or delete nucleotides in patients’ genetic code. About $39 million will go toward the R&D of these “epigenomic controllers,” while another $78 million is set aside for IND-enabling studies and getting current programs into the clinic, according to the S-1/A. The lead candidate, OTX-2002, is headed for a Phase I proof-of-concept study against c-myc, a “master” oncogene that crops up in a high percentage of tumor types. The company expects to file an IND for that candidate in hepatocellular carcinoma in the first half of 2022. And two to three more investigational epigenomic controllers will be declared by mid-2022, the S-1/A states. Flagship, which launched Omega back in 2019, holds 52.9% of the company’s shares. Omega will list under the ticker $OMGA. London-listed company makes its way to Wall Street MaxCyte is already trading on London’s AIM — but now, it’s about to have it’s very own spot on Nasdaq. The company priced a $176 million IPO on Friday, offering 13.5 million shares at $13 apiece, on the higher end of an $11.50 to $13.50 range. MaxCyte’s technology uses electroporation, which applies an electric field to temporarily increase the permeability of the cell membrane and allow intracellular delivery of molecules, such as genetic material and proteins. The company tagged between $20 million to $30 million for R&D activities, and another $20 million to $30 million to expand its manufacturing capabilities and invest in automation, according to the S-1/A. It will list under the ticker $MXCT.
Organizations
Indications
Targets
Drugs
Get started for free today!
Accelerate Strategic R&D decision making with Synapse, PatSnap’s AI-powered Connected Innovation Intelligence Platform Built for Life Sciences Professionals.
Start your data trial now!
Synapse data is also accessible to external entities via APIs or data packages. Leverages most recent intelligence information, enabling fullest potential.