Six Biotech Companies with IPOs This Week
This week marked initial public offering (IPO) news from six biopharma companies. Here’s a look.
BridgeBio Pharma. On June 17, BridgeBio set terms for its $240 million IPO. The company is based in Palo, Alto, Calif. and is expected to trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “BBIO.” BridgeBio focuses on genetic diseases. It was formed in 2015 and has a portfolio of more than 15 compounds. Each drug asset is housed in its own subsidiary company with access to centralized resources and capabilities built on a novel corporate structure. Some of the targeted indications include transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR-CM and ATTR-PN), pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN), Gorlin syndrome and others.
Stoke Therapeutics. Headquartered in Bedford, Mass., Stoke announced its IPO pricing on June 18 at $18 per share. It began trading on the Nasdaq on June 19 under the symbol “STOK.” The goal is to raise $142 million. The company focuses on treating the underlying causes of severe genetic diseases by upregulating protein expression in an attempt to restore the target proteins to normal levels. Its initial focus is on a therapy for Dravet syndrome, a severe and progressive genetic epilepsy that affects about 35,000 people in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Germany, France and the UK.
Atreca. Atreca announced on June 19 that it had set its IPO price at $17 and plans to raise $125 million. It will list on the Nasdaq under the “BCEL” ticker symbol. The company is located in Redwood City, Calif. and focuses on developing immuno-oncology therapies. In September 2018, the company closed on an oversubscribed Series C financing round worth $125 million. The company’s lead compound is ATRC-101. It expects to file an investigational new drug (IND) application late this year.
Personalis. On June 20, New York-based Personalis announced its IPO pricing at $17 per share with the intention of raising about $154.9 million. It will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol “PSNL.” Personalis calls itself a provider of advanced genomic sequencing and analytics solutions to support the development of personalized cancer vaccines and other next-generation cancer immunotherapies. On May 20, the company signed a deal with FLX Bio. FLX Bio will use Personalis’ universal cancer immunogenomics platform, ImmunoID NeXT to evaluate therapy-related changes in tumors in cancer patients participating in a Phase I/II clinical trial of FLX475 as both a monotherapy or in combination with Merck’s Keytruda.
Akero Therapeutics. Headquartered in San Francisco, Akero announced the pricing of its IPO on June 20 and is hoping to raise $92 million at a price of $16 per share. It will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol “AKRO.” On May 29, the company announced it had screened the first patient for its Phase IIa clinical trial of AKR-001, its lead product compound for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The company’s overall focus is on NASH and other serious metabolic diseases.
Prevail Therapeutics. Based in New York City, Prevail Therapeutics announced pricing of its IPO at $17 per share. It began trading on the Nasdaq on June 20 under the ticker symbol “PRVL.” The company is developing gene therapies for patients with neurodegenerative diseases. On June 4, the company announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had accepted its IND for its lead program, PR-001. PR-001 is a single-dose AAV9-based gene therapy for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease patients with a GBA1 mutation (PD-GBA). The company plans to launch a Phase I/II clinical trial of the therapy this year. The IPO is expected to raise $125 million.