$700MM in One Day: The Latest in Biotech IPOs

IPOs from Bicari Therapeutics, Zenas BioPharma,and MBX Biosciences last Thursday raised a combined $700MM. With all companies focusing on proliferating pharmaceutical products, the IPO activity placed last week as the busiest for biotech activity since earlier this year in February.

Bicari Therapeutics - $315MM

The largest IPO was that of Bicari Therapeutics. The company specializes in developing cancer therapeutics and the company’s lead compound Ficerafusp Alfa (BCA101), is an antibody currently in clinical development for various types of solid tumor cancer types, including those located in the head and neck. 

• Lead compound refers to a compound, or drug, that has demonstrated therapeutic activity that researchers and developers of the compound were looking for. The lead compound is generally also the most likely to see success in clinical trials and in the market.

The Boston company’s therapeutic targets EGFR, a well studied protein that is present on many tumor types. In addition to targeting EGFR, another signaling molecule TGF-Ꞵ responsible for promoting tumor growth is also inhibited by Bicari Therapeutics lead compound Ficerafusp Alfa. Fincerafusp Alfa is currently in a Phase 1/1b clinical trial as both a monotherapy (only Fincerafusp Alfa) and combination therapy (in use with another drug, in this case Pembrolizumab) treating patients with various types of cancer.

Zenas Biopharma - $225MM

Zenas Biopharma has developed a strong immunotherapy drug, Obexelimab, that targets a variety of diseases ranging from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) to Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). With Phase 3 trials for Obexelimab enrolling for Immunoglobulin G4-Related Disease, 2 Phase 2 trials recruiting for treatment of Multiple Sclerosis, warm Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia, and another Phase 2 trial for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus already underway, the company has already demonstrated success in clinical trials which is a milestone itself. The Phase 2 trial for SLE treatment is expected to be completed by March 2026. Similar to Bicari Therapeutics, Zenas Biopharma is headquartered in Boston and Morgan Stanley led the IPOs for both companies.

MBX Biosciences - $163MM

MBX Biosciences’ novel Precision Endocrine Peptides (PEPs) are compounds that mimic hormones naturally produced by the body. The company’s lead compound is MBX 2109, a therapeutic for Hypoparathyroidism, a rare condition that occurs when the parathyroid glands in the neck do not produce enough parathyroid hormone.

• Parathyroid hormone is responsible for the release of calcium by bones into the bloodstream. Individuals with Hypoparathyroidism tend to have low calcium levels which can lead to muscle aches, muscle spasms, seizures, and abnormal heart rhythms.

MBX 2109 is currently in Phase 2 trials as a once weekly injection therapy for individuals with Hypoparathyroidism. Another therapeutic developed by the company is MBX 1416; currently in Phase 1 clinical trials, the therapy aims to treat post-bariatric hypoglycemia, a condition that commonly affects individuals who have gone through bariatric weight loss surgery. Bariatric surgery can alter the hormonal response the body has to various foods that are consumed so compounds that mimic naturally occurring hormones are likely to be effective in treatment. BMX Biosciences is doing just that while also seeking to avoid some of the adverse effects that previous treatment protocols, often off-label prescriptions, cause.

With $700MM in capital raised for just 3 Biotech companies in one day alone, one can only ponder how the market will evolve alongside developing therapeutics. With all 3 companies having found hundreds of millions in capital resources prior to their IPOs, Wall Street seems to be more of a late stage capital raise and companies appear to be avoiding early IPOs. The uptick in companies opting for private investment has significantly increased as pharmaceutical giants continue to swallow up smaller companies with relatively new technologies– likely due to potential scientific partnerships not found on the trading floor. The make-up of biotech funding, whether it be public or private, is impacted primarily by scientific efficacy and market conditions, neither of which is easy to predict.

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