Quartet of biotechs join Nasdaq after stellar IPOs

Braveheart Bio, Latigo Biotherapeutics, Attovia Therapeutics, and BlossomHill Therapeutics have finalised their Nasdaq listings, collectively raising more than $1.2 billion – with all overshooting their predicted proceeds.

Braveheart heads the trio in terms of the amount raised, amassing $382 million from the sale of 21.25 million shares at $18 each, with the underwriters exercising all options to buy additional stock, bringing the total to nearly $440 million.

San Francisco, California-based Braveheart – trading under the BRVE symbol – needs the funds for a phase 3 programme for BHB-1893, a cardiac myosin inhibitor licensed from Jiangsu Hengrui Pharma last September, for the treatment of obstructive and non-obstructive forms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

If it reaches the market, it would compete with Bristol Myers Squibb's Camzyos (mavacamten) and Cytokinetics' Myqorzo (aficamten), currently approved for obstructive HCM only.

Thousand Oaks, California start-up Latigo, trading under the LTGO ticker, also landed an impressive sum in its IPO, selling 19.2 million shares at $18 to raise $346 million, which could be swelled by almost $52 million if underwriters exercise their allotment.

Latigo is working on a non-opioid pain reliever acting as an oral Nav1.8 inhibitor – in the same class as Vertex Pharma's first-to-market Journavx (suzetrigine) – and has shown promising analgesic efficacy in a phase 2 trial in patients undergoing abdominoplasty surgery.

The company was seeking new funding for a phase 3 trial in bunionectomy patients and an open-label safety trial, due to start later this year, which would be combined with the abdominoplasty readout in a filing for a moderate-to-severe acute pain indication.

San Carlos, California-based Attovia added $289 million to its coffers through the sale of 17 million shares at $17 apiece, which the underwriters boosted to just over $332 million after the underwriters took up their options on stock, trading as ATTO.

The proceeds are earmarked for ATTO-1310, an IL-31-targeted fusion protein that is being developed for conditions associated with itching (pruritus) – including chronic pruritus of unknown origin (CPUO), high-itch atopic dermatitis, cholestatic pruritus, and chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus – with phase 2 trials due to start next year.

Finally, BlossomHill closed a $150 million listing from the sale of 9.38 million shares at $16 each, with another $22.5 million on the table if underwriters take their opportunity to buy another 1.4 million shares.

The San Diego, California-based company is raising funds for phase 2 trials of two small-molecule drugs for cancer – OMNI-EGFR inhibitor BH-30643 for EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and CLK inhibitor BH-30236 for relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) – which are in early-stage clinical testing.