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By Robert Sherwood
NEW YORK, April 28 (IFR) - Early-stage biotech companiescontinue to find a favorable bid in both the private and publicmarkets. Continuing the trend of late-stage crossover rounds,Adaptimmune Therapeutics and aTyr Pharma are looking to followup 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 dealsthat are expected to price over the next two weeks.
Adaptimmune Therapeutics, a UK-based company focused oncancer immunotherapy, is notable in that it has only completedone round of funding privately, a US$104m raise in Septemberthat was supported by New Enterprise Associates, FidelityBiosciences, OrbiMed Advisors and Novo A/S.
The company, which has established a collaborativepartnership with GlaxoSmithKline, is hoping to extend itsdevelopment pipeline by raising as much as US$160m on the IPO.It is conducting Phase I/II clinical trials on a lead drugtargeting patients with hematological malignancies, includingmelanoma, ovarian cancer and esophageal cancer.
Recently public companies Kite Pharma, Juno Therapeutics andAduro Biotech all followed a similar financial ramp and all arefocused on immunotherapy, the science of usinggenetically-modified T-cells to target and kill cancer cells.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Cowen and Leerink Partnersare marketing 9.375m American Depositary Shares (ADRs) at$15-$17 each for pricing after the market close Wednesday, May6.
Combined with the £25m upfront payment last year from GSK,the company's cash holdings of £153.3m (US$235m) pro forma theoffering 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 investorsto the science of physiocrine biology, using naturally occurringproteins that it believes promote homeostasis in diseasedtissue. The company plans to develop drugs through commercialdevelopment through its physiocrine biology platform thatcurrently has 300 proteins.
Its most advanced treatment (Phase 1b/II) targets adultpatients with a rare form of muscular dystrophy.
JP Morgan and Citigroup, joint bookrunners on the IPO, aremarketing 5.4m shares at $13-$15, also for pricing May 6.
European and US regulators have both granted Resolaris, itslead drug, orphan drug designation, giving it exclusivity andexpediting regulatory approval. Resolaris is the onlyphysiocrine-based treatment that is currently undergoingclinical trials in human patients.
The potential for breakthrough treatments has not been loston investors. aTyr saw broadbased support for $45m private roundlast month that enlisted T Rowe Price, Federated and DeerfieldAdvisors, in addition to support from existing investorsFidelity, Soffinova and Baker Brothers Life Sciences. (Reporting by Robert Sherwood; Editing by Stephen Lacey)
