A Look Back at October Life Sciences IPOs
October was a busy month as multiple biopharma companies made their debut as publicly traded entities and even more companies filed their intentions to go public with an initial public offering. BioSpace takes a look back at some of the key IPOs of the month.
Related: Check out BioSpace's list of October IPO Filings and Proceeds here.
Companies that initiated IPOs over the course of October raised more than $1 billion from their combined investors.
Gamida Cell Ltd. – Israel-based Gamida Cell raised $50 million to support the development of cell therapies for cancer and rare diseases. Initially, the company planned to raise $69 million. The stock, sold on the Nasdaq Exchange under the ticker symbol GMDA, made its debut at $8 per share. Since then the stock has climbed and hit a high of $9.72. Gamida Cell’s lead product is NiCord, a Phase III NAM-expanded cord blood cell therapy. The company believes it has the potential to serve as a universal curative stem cell graft for patients who need a hematopoietic stem cell transplant. The Phase III trial is enrolling patients with a number of hematologic malignancies, including high-risk leukemias such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and lymphomas.
LogicBio Therapeutics – When Cambridge, Mass.-based LogicBio announced the closing of its IPO on Oct. 23, the company said it snagged $80.5 million, about $10 million more than initially reported when it began selling on the Nasdaq on Oct. 19. LogicBio’s core platform includes its proprietary GeneRide technology and synthetic gene-therapy vectors derived from naturally occurring human adeno-associated viruses. Shares were initially offered at $10 and climbed to $11.50, but have since fallen back to a low of $7.88 on Oct. 24.
Orchard Therapeutics -- U.K.-based Orchard Therapeutics priced its shares at $14 with an aim to raise $200 million in its IPO. The stock went live on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ORTX on Oct. 31. The IPO offering price is expected to close on Nov. 2, the London-based company said. The IPO comes less than two months after Orchard nabbed $150 million in an oversubscribed Series C financing round. The funds were expected to be used to drive development of a gene therapy for Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome.
PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals – Malvern, Penn.-based PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals raised $46 million in an IPO to support the development of novel therapies for orphan diseases, with an initial focus on cardiopulmonary. PhaseBio initially filed a prospectus for a $86 million IPO. The stock was initially priced at $5. Since its IPO, the stock has hit a high of $5.25, but has since fallen back. The company’s lead product is PB2452, a potentially first-in-class reversal agent for the antiplatelet drug ticagrelor that is being developed for the treatment of patients on ticagrelor who are experiencing a major bleeding event.
Osmotica Pharmaceuticals – Based in Wilmington, N.C., Osmotica Pharmaceuticals raised $46.6 million in an IPO. Since its debut on the Nasdaq, Osmotica, which trades under the symbol OSMT, hit a high of $9.20 on Oct. 22, but has since fallen back some to a low of $8 on Oct. 24. Earlier this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the company’s Osmolex ER for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and for the treatment of drug-induced extrapyramidal reactions in adult patients.
SI-Bone, Inc. – Medtech company SI-Bone raised $108 million in its Oct. 17 IPO. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company developed the iFuse Implant System, a minimally invasive surgical system for fusion of the sacroiliac joint to treat sacroiliac joint dysfunction. SI-Bone, sold on the Nasdaq under the symbol SIBN, was initially priced at $15. The stock hit a high of $21, but has slipped back some.
Equillium, Inc. – Biotech startup Equillium, Inc. raised $65.4 million in its IPO. The funds will be used to support the development of therapeutics for immune system disorders. Equillium’s initial product candidate, EQ001 (itolizumab), is a first-in-class monoclonal antibody that selectively targets the novel immune checkpoint receptor CD6. EQ001 is designed to modulate T cells that drive immuno-inflammation. La Jolla, Calif.-based Equillium’s stock, sold under the symbol EQ, was initially priced at $14. It hit a high of $14.97 on Oct. 25.
Allogene Therapeutics – Six months after launching, Allogene Therapeutics roared out of the gate with $372.6 million in its initial public offering – significantly above the $288 million the company initially anticipated from its IPO. South San Francisco-based Allogene announced its intentions to file for an IPO last month. The company trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol ALLO. Founded by former Kite Pharma executives Arie Belldegrun, and David Chang, Allogene develops off-the-shelf CAR-T therapy products. Shares of Allogene were initially priced at $25 and hit a high of $29.96 on Oct. 15. Since then though, shares have dropped back and hit a low of $22.50 on Oct. 24.
Guardant Health – Bay Area biotech Guardant Health raised $237.5 million in its Oct. 4 IPO. The company develops blood tests for early and recurrent cancer detection. The liquid biopsies help physicians to match the most appropriate treatment to the patients. The company’s stock spiked nearly 70 percent on its first day of trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol GH. The stock was first available at $19 per share and by the end of the first day of trading, it had climbed to $32.20 per share. One of its primary products is Guardant360 for advanced solid tumor cancers. Since that first day of trading, the stock has hit a high of $40.73 on Oct. 17. Shares have fallen back slightly since then, but have not slipped below the mark set on that first day of trading.
Kodiak Sciences – Another Bay Area company, Kodiak Sciences, secured $90 million in its Oct. 4 IPO. Kodiak went public weeks after it announced enrollment had been completed for its Phase I trial of KSI-301 to treat retinal vascular diseases, including neovascular age-related macular degeneration and diabetic eye disease. Kodiak, which trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol KOD, was initially available at a price of $10 per share. Since its launch, the stock has struggled to stay above its initial list price. On. Oct. 24 it hit a low of $9.27.