Parabilis Medicines is joining the parade of biotechs going public, sharing plans to raise as much as $476.4 million to help advance its lead cancer candidate into late-stage testing.
Shortly after inking a pact with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, peptide-maker Parabilis is unveiling plans to raise over $400 million in an initial public offering.
The biotech, formerly known as FogPharma, aims to sell 25 million shares of stock at $17 to $19 per piece, according to a June 4 SEC filing. At an $18-per-share midpoint, the company expects to raise about $413 million, or $476 million if underwriters choose to exercise their overallotment options in full.
The public offering will be used to propel the company’s lead asset zolucatetide through its current dose-expansion assessment and into Phase 3 development for desmoid tumors. The experimental drug stems from Parabilis’ Helicon peptide platform, which is designed to create a new class of medicines that combine the precision of antibodies with the intracellular access and tunability of small molecules to reach historically undruggable targets.
Parabilis will also use some of its IPO money to advance zolucatetide in other indications, including a rare genetic disorder called familial adenomatous polyposis that nearly guarantees patients will get colorectal cancer. The biotech is also assessing zolucatetide’s potential in hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer.
The company intends to join the Nasdaq with the ticker PBLS.
Parabilis will join the 10 other biotechs that have already debuted this year on the U.S. public markets, most notably Kailera Therapeutics in April. The obesity-focused biotech secured $625 million—the largest biotech IPO ever recorded.
Other recent IPOs include Hemab Therapeutics’ $346 million raise and Odyssey Therapeutics’ $279 million debut, both of which were upsized and closed in early May.
If Parabilis raises what it expects, the sizable debut will mark a continued warm reception from investors after an icy 2025. But the nature of biotech IPO pricing is unpredictable, with main investors often placing strict limits on how high the pricing can go, Craig Hilts, partner at global law firm Sidley Austin, told BioSpace last month. That means Parabilis could potentially raise even more money if additional investors join the party at the last minute.
It’s been smooth sailing for Parabilis over the last few weeks after recently securing a deal that includes a $75 million investment from Regeneron to collaborate on creating a new class of therapeutics called antibody-helicon conjugates (AHCs). The pact includes up to $2.3 billion in biobucks for the peptide engineer.
