KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. on Path Toward $50 Million IPO

KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc. has priced its initial public offering in a $12 to $14 per share range, translating at its midpoint into a fundraising of $50 million. The South San Francisco company, which develops so-called Humaneered monoclonal antibodies to treat respiratory diseases and cancer, plans to sell 3.85 million shares. Its stock would be listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol "KBIO." Leerink Swann is the lead manager of the offering. KaloBios venture backers have included MPM Capital, Sofinnova Ventures, Alloy Ventures and 5AM Ventures. KaloBios filed for its IPO in October, but CEO David Pritchard last summer brought on Chief Financial Officer Jeff Cooper to lay the groundwork for the offering. At the heart of KaloBios' IPO are its customized antibodies, the body's protein arm against disease. KaloBios' Humaneered technology converts nonhuman antibodies -- typically from mice -- into human antibodies. Those engineered antibodies can better bind to their targets, Pritchard has said, which would make them more effective against disease with fewer side effects.