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Companies hunting for new ways to tackle cancer to Alzheimer's raised $6.3 billion going public in 2018 - here are the 10 biggest deals of the year
Companies hunting for new ways to tackle cancer to Alzheimer's raised $6.3 billion going public in 2018 - here are the 10 biggest deals of the year
Lydia RamseyDec 17, 2018, 23:07 IST
Moderna Therapeutics CEO Stephane BancelCNBC screenshot
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Biotech initial public offerings hit a record high in 2018 with big deals like Moderna's $604 million offering in December and Allogene's $324 million offering in October.
In total, there have been 58 biotech IPOs in 2018, raising a total of $6.3 billion, according to Renaissance Capital.
Here are the 10 IPOs that made the biggest splash and broke records in 2018.
It's been a massive year for biotech companies to go public.
In the past year, companies have raised more than $6.3 billion in 58 deals, according to Renaissance Capital. It's the highest number of offerings since 2014, when there were 71 biotech IPOs that raised a combined $5.2 billion.
Here are the 10 biotech IPOs that made the biggest splash and broke records in 2018.
Charlotte Hu contributed to an earlier version of this post.
Urovant Sciences develops therapies for urologic conditions. Its lead product is vibegron, an oral drug for overactive bladder, overactive bladder in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia, and pain associated with irritable bowel syndrome. The drug is currently in a phase III trial, and results are expected in 2019. The company has support from its parent firm, Roivant, which is led by 33-year-old Vivek Ramaswamy. In November, Roivant itself raised $200 million.
Homology Medicines wants to treat genetic diseases using viruses instead of CRISPR. Its human hematopoietic stem cell-derived adeno-associated virus vectors (AAVHSCs) is designed to deliver genetic medicines through a gene therapy or nuclease-free gene editing modality across a broad range of genetic disorders.
Get the latest Homology Medicines stock price here.
8. Autolus Therapeutics (AUTL)
IPO Proceeds: $150 million
Date of IPO: June 22
Autolus Therapeutics develops CAR-T cell immunotherapies for blood and solid tumor cancers. It expects to report proof-of-concept data from five programs in 2019.
Get the latest Autolus Therapeutics stock quote here.
7. Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals (KNSA)
IPO Proceeds: $152.6 million
Date of IPO: May 24
Kiniska Pharmaceuticals develops drugs targeting autoinflammatory and autoimmune disease. Its atopic dermatisis drug KPL-716 showed positive results in a phase I trial.
Get the latest Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals stock quote here.
6. Orchard Therapeutics (ORTX)
IPO Proceeds: $200 million
Date of IPO: October 31
Orchard Therapeutics is developing gene therapies for rare diseases, including a treatment for "bubble boy" disease which it licensed from GlaxoSmithKline.
MorphoSys is developing antibodies for cancer, Alzheimer's Disease, infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and inflammation. MorphoSys has collaborated with partners and developed more than 100 product candidates, of which 29 are currently in clinical development.
Tricida is developing therapeutics to treat renal, metabolic and cardiovascular disease. Its lead product is an oral drug designed to treat metabolic acidosis in patients with chronic kidney disease.
Rubius Therapeutics uses reprogrammed red blood cells to treat conditions like cancer. It's also developing enzyme replacement therapies for rare conditions where a person can't make a particular enzyme in their body. The Cambridge-based company recently opened a manufacturing facility in Smithfield, Rhode Island.
Get the latest Rubius Therapeutics stock price here.
2. Allogene Therapeutics (ALLO)
IPO Proceeds: $324 million
Date of IPO: October 11
Allogene is developing less-personalized versions of CAR-T cell therapies using new cell therapies licensed in from Pfizer. As part of its deal, Allogene gets the rights to 16 preclinical CAR-T therapies, which includes treatments for both blood and solid-tumor cancers. The experimental treatments come out of a collaboration between Cellectis, a gene-editing company, and Pfizer.
Allogene hit the ground running, picking up more than $300 million in funding in April then turning around to raise $324 million in its public offering just a few months later in October.
Moderna is developing medical treatments based on messenger RNA, and the company is still in the early days of human trials for its treatments, which include cancer treatments as well as a vaccine for cytomegalovirus, or CMV. It currently holds the title of the largest IPO in biotech history.
