CAMP4 Therapeutics Corp.

GPCR drug developer Septerna plans to raise about $157 million in net proceeds from its proposed initial public offering , according to a new securities filing Monday morning. The Nasdaq debut would push out Septerna’s runway into 2027 and give it an overall capital heap of about $294 million. The Bay Area startup is marketing 10.93 million shares $SEPN in the range of $15 to $17 apiece, according to the SEC filing. The biotech, which works on oral drugs targeting G protein-coupled receptors, initially unveiled its Times Square ambitions on Oct. 2. Septerna is likely to go public right before the US presidential election, and no other major biotech startups are in the IPO on-deck circle. The market has been “quiet” since the steady stream of floats last month and earlier in October from companies like Upstream Bio, CAMP4 Therapeutics and MBX Biosciences. Like MBX, Septerna is working in the rare endocrinology field of hypoparathyroidism. The condition has also seen a bubbling of activity lately with the approval of Ascendis’ Yorvipath this summer and AstraZeneca’s acquisition of Amolyt Pharma. Septerna believes it’s the first to take an oral hypoparathyroidism treatment candidate into human studies. Septerna entered Phase 1 in Australia last month. The healthy volunteer study will include up to 180 adults to test once-daily and twice-daily dosing of its lead asset SEP-786. The biotech anticipates data in mid-2025 and then plans to move into Phase 1 in the US and “select foreign jurisdictions,” including places in Europe and Canada. The biotech has another oral small molecule for the inflammatory skin disease known as chronic spontaneous urticaria, or CSU. The company has started IND-enabling studies for the experimental medicine. It also wants to get into the popular fields of obesity and type 2 diabetes, but those programs are likely far away. The startup launched with $100 million in 2022 based on work in the lab of Nobel laureate and GPCR pioneer Robert Lefkowitz. Septerna then assembled a $150 million Series B in mid-2023. Third Rock Ventures, Samsara BioCapital, RA Capital, Deep Track, Invus, BVF and Goldman Sachs’ West Street Life Sciences all own 5% or more of the 68-employee startup.

Boston-area biotechs Upstream Bio and CAMP4 Therapeutics are headed to the Nasdaq on Friday, the latest companies to IPO in what appears to be a recovery for startups trying to raise capital on the public market. Upstream Bio priced at $17 per share, the high end of the $15 to $17 range it set earlier this week . By selling 15 million shares — 2.5 million more than originally planned — it will raise $255 million in new cash. CAMP4, meanwhile, priced its shares $CAMP at $11 apiece, $3 below the low end of the $14 to $16 range it marketed to investors. It sold 6.82 million shares versus an initial plan to offer 5 million and will raise $75 million . The IPO window is “showing signs of recovery,” Oppenheimer bankers wrote in a quarterly analysis this week. GPCR biotech Septerna is also in the IPO queue, and Bain-backed obesity startup Rivus Pharmaceuticals is also considering a listing this fall, Bloomberg reported this week. For Upstream $UPB the offering will add to its coffers as it runs Phase 2 and later-stage trials of its TSLP receptor antagonist verekitug. The experimental treatment, licensed from Astellas, is being studied for severe asthma and chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps . Upstream hopes to enter a similar market as Amgen and AstraZeneca’s Tezspire, as well as Blackstone-backed Uniquity Bio’s solrikitug . CAMP4 is working on regulatory RNA and has a Phase 1 trial of its lead drug, a CPS1-targeting medicine for urea cycle disorders. The IPO comes a few weeks after CAMP4 added BioMarin to its partnership lineup, which already includes Fulcrum Therapeutics and Eli Lilly. Earlier in its startup days, CAMP4 had pacts with Biogen and Alnylam.

iStock, beast01 Two biotechs set out for the public markets this week, with Upstream Bio raising $255 million for its inflammatory disease work, while CAMP4 Therapeutics picked up $75 million to develop RNA-targeting drugs. Two more companies jumped to the public markets to end the week, with inflammatory disease biotech Upstream Bio upsizing its offering for proceeds totaling $255 million while RNA outfit CAMP4 Therapeutics picked up $75 million. In the larger IPO, Upstream offered 15 million shares for $17 apiece, which began trading Friday morning under the ticker UPB, according to a Thursday press release. Upstream’s lead program is verekitug, also known as UPB-101, an antagonist targeting thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), which is known to be involved in the body’s inflammatory response. The therapy is currently in two Phase II trials for severe asthma and chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps. Upstream also plans to develop the therapy in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Earlier Phase I studies of verekitug showed a reduction in inflammatory biomarkers, rapid treatment effects and tolerability. Upstream is helmed by Rand Sutherland, who joined as CEO in April after serving in the same role at Seeker Biologics. Prior to that, he was president of Translate Bio, which was acquired by Sanofi. The second biotech to go out was CAMP4, which offered 6.8 million shares at $11 each for total proceeds of $75 million. Trading was expected to begin Friday under the ticker CAMP, according to a Friday press release . The CAMP4 team has had a busy month. The company signed an agreement with BioMarin on Oct. 1 to develop therapies that increase protein levels by targeting regulatory RNA sequences. Financial details were not disclosed, but CAMP4 was provided with an upfront fee, plus milestones and royalties down the line. CAMP4’s lead program is CMP-CPS-001, which is in Phase I development for urea cycle disorders. CMP-CPS-001 secured orphan drug status from the FDA in September and had previously held a rare pediatric disease tag as well. Another program, CMP-SYNGAP, is in preclinical development for SYNGAP1-related disorders, which are a group of central nervous system diseases. CAMP4 also has multiple programs in metabolic CNS and cardiovascular diseases in early development and discovery. IPO activity has picked up this fall, with several biotechs making the jump to Wall Street. Upstream and CAMP4 follow Bicara Therapeutics, Zenas BioPharma and MBX Biosciences, which together raised more than $700 million in September.