Artiva announces terms for its second IPO attempt
Dr Fred Aslan, Artiva's president and chief executive
After abandoning its first initial public offering (IPO) filed in 2021, natural killer (NK) cell therapy specialist Artiva Biotherapeutics is having another go.
The San Diego, California-based biotech filed its intention to go public a couple of weeks ago and has now set out its terms, hoping to raise up to $135 million by offering 8.7 million shares at a price range of $14 to $16. It had initially set a target of $100 million from the IPO.
Artiva is one of a group of companies that are hoping to mimic with NK cells what has been done with T cells, and specifically CAR-Ts for cancer which account for the majority of approved cell therapies at the moment.
Dr Fred Aslan, Artiva's president and chief executive, recently told pharmaphorum editor-in-chief Jonah Comstock that NK cells promise to have a significant safety advantage over CAR-T cell therapies, which have side effects that lead most patients receiving them to require hospitalisation during administration. That safety issue has also limited the use of CAR-Ts beyond cancer.
In contrast, Artiva's NK cells promise to be easier to tolerate and are derived from donor (allogeneic) cells so can be given off the shelf, rather than the expensive and lengthy process of harvesting and expanding patients' own cells with CAR-T. Overall, that means NK therapies could potentially be delivered in a community setting, and at a lower price.
Artiva is focusing its lead development efforts on autoimmune diseases rather than cancer, and its lead candidate AlloNK is currently in a phase 1/1b trial in lupus nephritis, as well as an investigator-led 'basket' trial in multiple autoimmune indications. The company expects to have the first data from at least one of these two studies in the first half of next year.
If it goes through, around $55 million of the IPO cash injection will support the clinical development of AlloNK, according to a prospectus filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). The remainder is earmarked for discovery, preclinical, and clinical development of additional pipeline programmes, as well as investments in headcount and manufacturing and general corporate uses.
AlloNK is being evaluated further back in development for the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), as well as in combination with Affimed's innate cell engager acimtamig for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory CD30-positive lymphomas, according to Artiva.
The company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol ARTV, with the final price for the offering expected later this week. Jefferies, TD Cowen, and Cantor Fitzgerald are the joint bookrunners.
