Kyverna Looks to Go Public, Raise $182M Amid Surge in Biotech IPOs
02 Feb 2024
ImmunotherapyPhase 2Phase 1IPOPhase 3
Pictured: IPO illustration showing stacks of coins and an upward red trendline/iStock, holwichaikawee
Kyverna Therapeutics on Thursday announced in an SEC filing that its initial public offering will put more than 11 million shares of its common stock up for sale at $18 a piece in a bid to debut on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol KYTX.
The California-based biotech expects to reap net proceeds of $182.3 million, with the potential of bumping this up to $210.2 million if underwriters fully exercise their option to purchase additional shares. Kyverna has not specified a date for the completion of its IPO but expects to close the offering this year.
Kyverna will use the IPO’s proceeds to advance its lead candidate KYV-101, an autologous anti-CD19 CAR-T therapy being developed for B-cell driven autoimmune diseases. KYV-101 is currently in Phase II studies in myasthenia gravis and multiple sclerosis, a Phase I/II study in systemic sclerosis, as well as a Phase I study in lupus nephritis.
The IPO haul will also help push the allogeneic CAR-T therapy KYV-201 into clinical development.
Both KYV-101 and KYV-201 bind to the CD19 antigen, a key molecule involved in the differentiation of immature immune cells into B-cells. By targeting CD19 and using other costimulatory domains, Kyverna’s candidates can maximize the depletion of B-cells and suppress the secretion of cytokines and addressing a crucial pathological mechanism of autoimmune conditions, according to the biotech’s website.
In a February 2023 interview with BioSpace, Kyverna CEO Peter Maag said that while other lupus nephritis therapies can elicit around 20% improvement versus baseline, a CAR-T approach can push complete response rates up to 100%.
The IPO will also help Kyverna boost its market capitalization and improve its financial flexibility, according to its SEC filing.
Kyverna is the fifth biotech that has outlined concrete plans for an IPO this year. First through the door was CG Oncology, which debuted on the Nasdaq last week with a $380 million upsized offering. CG Oncology is advancing just one asset—the Phase III cretostimogene grenadenorepvec, which is being developed for various different types of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.
Fellow cancer biotech ArriVent Biopharma followed a day later, announcing its own $175 million upsized IPO that would support the development of its late-stage EGFR inhibitor furmonertinib, which is being trialed in non-small cell lung cancer with varying mutation pro
Alto Neuroscience and Fractyl Health earlier this week submitted their own IPO plans to the SEC, with both companies going public on Friday morning.
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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