(Bloomberg) -- A trio of biotech companies sold shares in their initial public offerings on Thursday, an encouraging sign for a sector whose new entrants have lately struggled.
Bicara Therapeutics Inc. expanded its IPO to sell 17.5 million shares at $18 each, at the top of the price range, to raise $315 million, according to a statement. The company had boosted the number of shares on Wednesday, a regulatory filing showed.
MBX Biosciences Inc. raised $163.2 million in its enlarged first-time share sale, pricing 10.2 million shares at $16 each, according to a statement. The number of shares was increased from 8.5 million and they priced at the top of a marketed range.
Also on Thursday, Zenas BioPharma Inc. raised $224.4 million in its first-time sale that was upsized, according to a statement. The firm priced 13.2 million shares at $17 each, the middle of the marketed range.
The IPOs are tasked with wiping the slate clean after a string of lackluster deals in the sector. Drug developers that have raised more than $10 million in US IPOs this year have largely faltered, with six of the 11 firms diving below their debut prices, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Drug developers had raised $2 billion this year via IPOs through Sept. 11, a 25% jump from the same period in 2023, though nearly two-thirds of this year’s proceeds were raised in the first two months when the industry saw a rush of new issues, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
For Bicara and Zenas, which have shown so-called proof-of-concept data — results that suggest their drugs could be successful in later-stage studies — strong debuts would indicate broader interest in early-stage drug developers is improving.
Zenas makes therapies for patients living with autoimmune diseases, its filing shows. Its lead product candidate is designed to inhibit the activity of cells that are implicated in many autoimmune diseases without depleting them, according to the filing. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s beneficial ownership in the company is set to fall to 3.7% after the offering, compared with 5.3% beforehand, the filing shows.
Bicara’s lead program is focused on a treatment that targets certain types of head and neck carcinomas, its filing shows. Entities affiliated with India’s Biocon Ltd. are set to beneficially own 11% of the shares after the IPO, compared with 16% previously, according to the filing.
MBX is focused on developing therapies for endocrine and metabolic disorders, its filing shows. It is backed by entities affiliated with Frazier Life Sciences, New Enterprise Associates and OrbiMed Advisors, according to the filing.
Zenas and MBX are set to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select market under the symbols ZBIO and MBX respectively. Bicara is expected to trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol BCAX.
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