Early-stage biotech companies continue to find a favourable bid in both the private and public markets. Continuing the trend of late-stage crossover rounds, Adaptimmune Therapeutics and aTyr Pharma are looking to follow up recent private institutional into the public markets. The companies launched marketing of their IPOs on Monday, joining a crowded queue of biotechs that now totals 10 deals that are expected to price over the next two weeks.
Adaptimmune Therapeutics, a UK-based company focused on cancer immunotherapy, is notable in that it has only completed one round of funding privately, a US $104m raise in September that was supported by New Enterprise Associates, Fidelity Biosciences, OrbiMed Advisors and Novo A/S. The company, which has established a collaborative partnership with GlaxoSmithKline, is hoping to extend its development pipeline by raising as much as US $160m on the IPO. It is conducting Phase I/II clinical trials on a lead drug targeting patients with hematological malignancies, including melanoma, ovarian cancer and esophageal cancer.
Recently public companies Kite Pharma, Juno Therapeutics and Aduro Biotech all followed a similar financial ramp and all are focused on immunotherapy, the science of using genetically-modified T-cells to target and kill cancer cells. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Cowen and Leerink Partners are marketing 9.375m American Depository Shares (ADRs) at $15-$17 each for pricing after the market close Wednesday, May 6.
Combined with the ?25m upfront payment last year from GSK, the company's cash holdings of ?153.3m (US $235m) pro forma the offering will be sufficient to fund operations through mid-2018, it indicated in its offering prospectus. Blinded by science Orphan drug specialist aTyr is introducing public investors to the science of physiocrine biology, using naturally occurring proteins that it believes promote homeostasis in diseased tissue. The company plans to develop drugs through commercial development through its physiocrine biology platform that currently has 300 proteins.
Its most advanced treatment (Phase 1b/II) targets adult patients with a rare form of muscular dystrophy. J.P. Morgan and Citigroup, joint bookrunners on the IPO, are marketing 5.4m shares at $13-$15, also for pricing May 6. European and US regulators have both granted Resolaris, its lead drug, orphan drug designation, giving it exclusivity and expediting regulatory approval. Resolaris is the only physiocrine-based treatment that is currently undergoing clinical trials in human patients.
The potential for breakthrough treatments has not been lost on investors. aTyr saw broadbased support for $45m private round last month that enlisted T Rowe Price, Federated and Deerfield Advisors, in addition to support from existing investors Fidelity, Soffinova and Baker Brothers Life Sciences.