3 Biotechs and a Real Estate Finance Company Went Public Today. Only One Gained.
Text size
Three companies in the biotech space and a mortgage lender listed their shares on Thursday.
Lyell Immunopharma,
and
iSpecimen
opened on the Nasdaq.
Angel Oak Mortgage
traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
Of the four, only Verve (ticker: VERV) gained in the aftermarket. The stock kicked off at $30, hit a high of $33.96, and closed at $31.92, up 68% from its offer price.
The biotech, based in Cambridge, Mass., also is the only one that expanded the size of its deal and priced above its expected range. It raised about $267 million late Wednesday after selling roughly 14 million shares at $19 each. It had filed to offer 11.8 million shares at $16 to $18 each.
Verve develops therapeutics to treat cardiovascular disease. Its lead product candidate, VERVE-101, is a gene-editing medication that aims to improve the ability of the liver to clear LDL-C, considered bad cholesterol, from the blood. The company plans to submit an investigational new drug application for VERVE-101 to the Food and Drug Administration next year, the prospectus said.
Lyell Immunopharma (LYEL) also began trading. Shares opened at $18.75, peaked at $18.90, and closed at $16.89, 11 cents off its IPO price. This makes Lyell a so-called broken deal.
The lackluster performance came after Lyell collected about $425 million. The company sold 25 million shares at $17 each, the midpoint of its $16-$18 price range.
The biotech, based in South San Francisco, Calif., is developing T-cell therapies to treat solid tumor cancers, and plans on submitting new drug applications for four product candidates to the FDA by the end of 2022, a prospectus said. One, LYL797, was created to target non-small-cell lung cancer and triple-negative breast cancer. LYL797 may expand into other cancers, including hormone receptor positive (HR+) breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and other solid tumors, the prospectus said.
iSpecimen (ISPC) also dropped below its IPO price. The stock launched at $6.27, peaked at $7.45, and ended Thursday at $7.15, down nearly 11% from its offer price.
Late Wednesday, iSpecimen, which provides tools for the biotech industry, collected $18 million. It sold 2.25 million shares at $8 each, the bottom of its $8-$10 price range.
The company, which operates out of Lexington, Mass., is looking to create an “Amazon-like” marketplace that connects scientists to patients, human biospecimens, and data they need for research, a prospectus said. It is currently offering Covid-19 specimens, including remnant swabs, serums, and plasma for use by researchers.
The stock of Angel Oak Mortgage (AOMR) opened at its high of $18.75 and closed at $18.65, down 1.8% from its offer price.
Angel Oak raised $137 million, which was less than expected. It had filed to offer 8 million shares at $20 to $21, but ended up selling 7.2 million shares at $19 each.
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is buying about $40 million worth of Angel Oak shares, a statement said.
Founded in 2018, Angel Oak is a real estate finance company that focuses on buying and investing in mortgage loans and other mortgage-related assets. The Atlanta-based company, which is backed by investment manager Angel Oak Capital Advisors, will operate as a real estate investment trust, the prospectus said.
Write to Luisa Beltran at [email protected]