Public Company Edition: Roivant’s deal sets its market cap at $7.3bn. Beyond the Werewolf and Vaccitech offerings, more drug developers are slated to go public during the first week of May. And in follow-on offerings, COMPASS Pathways raises $144m and Aldeyra brings in $125m.
After years of wondering whether founder and executive chairman Vivek Ramaswamy would take Roivant Sciences public, the multi-subsidiary firm will begin trading on the Nasdaq in the third quarter when the company closes its merger with the special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC) Montes Archimedes Acquisition Corp. (MAAC), which was announced on 3 May.
The deal gives Roivant approximately $611m in new cash, including roughly $411m held in trust by MAAC and $200m from...
Merck’s immuno-oncology blockbuster was the world’s best-selling drugs by revenues for the second year in a row, with an almost $12bn lead over its closest rival, Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 drug Ozempic.
Private Company Edition: ARCH raised more than $3bn for its eighth fund, Frazier added $630m to its public fund that also can back crossover rounds, DCVC’s third biotech fund totaled $400m and Asabys raised €180m ($200m) for its second fund. Also, Aktis closed a $175m series B round.
BridgeBio spun out oncology assets in May to focus on rare diseases and now it has sliced off a few rare disease candidates for GondolaBio. Also, Avidity and Kymera closed follow-on offerings that grossed $345.1m and $225m, respectively, and Vandria extended its series A round to $30.7m.
Restructuring Edition: Lykos recruited a J&J veteran to help its slimmed-down staff resubmit its MDMA-based PTSD therapy. Also, Lexicon cut its field force by 50%, or 75 jobs; Viracta cut its solid tumor program and 23% of its workforce; and Boundless Bio streamlined with moderate job cuts.
Private Company Edition: ARCH raised more than $3bn for its eighth fund, Frazier added $630m to its public fund that also can back crossover rounds, DCVC’s third biotech fund totaled $400m and Asabys raised €180m ($200m) for its second fund. Also, Aktis closed a $175m series B round.
The German group is spinning off from Eckert & Ziegler and listing in Frankfurt, though a leap to the NASDAQ will likely follow once it has more data on a lymphoma theranostic.
MBX, Zenas and Bicara delivered positive returns in their first days of trading, but that has not always translated to good long-term results for drug developers that launched US IPOs this year.
