Four months after raising $30 million in a Series C financing round, Watertown, Mass.-based Lyra Therapeutics raised an additional $56 million in its initial public offering.
Four months after raising $30 million in a Series C financing round, Watertown, Mass.-based Lyra Therapeutics raised an additional $56 million in its initial public offering (IPO).
The stock for the ENT-focused company begins trading on the Nasdaq this morning under the ticker symbol LYRA. The stock will begin trading at $16 per share and the IPO is expected to close on May 5, the company announced this morning. Lyra will sell 3.5 million shares of common stock when the bell rings this morning. In addition, Lyra has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 525,000 shares of its common stock at the initial public offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions.
For the company’s IPO, BofA Securities, Jefferies and William Blair are acting as joint book-running managers. BTIG is acting as a co-manager for the offering.
Lyra is developing treatments for the localized treatment of patients with ear, nose and throat diseases. Its two lead products are LYR-210 and LYR-220, which are being developed for the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), an inflammatory disease of the paranasal sinuses which leads to debilitating symptoms and significant morbidities. It is estimated that approximately 13 million people in the United States suffer from CRS. The drugs are designed to deliver up to six months of continuous drug therapy to the sinonasal passages, with LYR-210 for surgically-naïve patients and LYR-220 for operated patients, according to company information.
In January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the way for Phase II studies of LYR-210 for CRS. In the Phase II LANTERN study, CRS patients who have not had sinus surgery will receive in-office bilateral administration of either one of two dose levels of LYR-210 or placebo.
The company is advancing LYR-210 as a potential preferred alternative to surgery in an ongoing Phase II clinical trial for CRS patients who have failed medical management. In its Phase 1 clinical trial, LYR-210 met its primary safety endpoint, and it was observed that patients generally experienced significant and rapid, clinically meaningful improvement, the company said. LYR-220 is also being developed for use in CRS patients who have an enlarged nasal cavity due to sinus surgery but continue to require treatment to manage CRS symptoms.
The active therapeutic in the two drugs is mometasone furoate, which is the active ingredient in several medications that have already received regulatory approval and has a well-established efficacy and safety profile, the company said.
