Global Blood Therapeutics Debuts with Successful $120-million IPO

Global Blood Therapeutics (NASDAQ:GBT) began trading on the NASDAQ on Wednesday. The company raised $120 million in its IPO, exceeding its expected price range.
Global Blood Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that works to discover, develop and commercialize small-molecule therapeutics for grievous blood-based disorders. Fierce Biotech reported that during its IPO it sold 6 million shares priced at $20 each, surpassing the anticipated price of $15 to $18 per share; it also set aside 900,000 shares to cover overallotments. The company’s share price hit a high of $47.38 on Wednesday afternoon.

Initial product candidate GBT440 in development

Global Blood Therapeutics’ IPO will help fund the development of its initial product candidate, GBT440. According to a press release, GBT440 is an oral, prophylactic therapy for sickle cell disease (SCD) that is intended to be taken once per day. SCD causes cell malformation by fusing hemoglobin together into long, sharp strands. Phys.org explains that currently a stem cell transplant from a donor is the only cure for this condition recognized by the National Institutes of Health. However, many people suffering from SCD are too old for a stem cell transplant, or struggle to find an adequate genetic match.
GBT440 functions by binding hemoglobin molecules before they can stick together. That encourages the molecules to oxidize, decreasing the chance that they will sickle. Currently, the therapy is being tested on healthy subjects and SCD patients in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 1/2 clinical trial that began in December. The company plans to enroll up to 128 patients in the study before moving on to an efficacy trial. ClinicalTrials.gov estimates that the study will wrap up in May 2016.
In addition to GBT440, Global Blood Therapeutics is also working on research and development into treatments for hypoxemic pulmonary disorders, such as pulmonary fibrosis and hereditary angioedema.

Market in context

Nelson Griggs, executive vice president of listing services at NASDAQ, said Wednesday that Global Blood Therapeutics “is working to provide solutions to serious blood-based diseases for which there are currently very limited therapeutic options. We are proud to welcome GBT to our family of pioneering companies, and we look forward to supporting its growth and success in the future.”
The company is the third working in the SCD space that has recently gone public. The other two companies, bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) and Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BLCM), are respectively researching a potential gene therapy for the disease and designing a drug to reduce side effects from the stem cell transplant.
Global Blood Therapeutics’ IPO is also significant in that it continues the successful streak of biotech IPOs that have characterized the first half of 2015. Fierce Biotech has said that Adynxx, Gensight Biologics and Erytech are all looking to make their own market debuts.
 

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