5 February IPOs on the NASDAQ

January was a lousy month for initial public offerings (IPOs) in the life science space, with no successful IPOs in the biotech sector. That’s not unsurprising given that the life science sector — and biotechnology in particular — has seen a steep drop off in investor interest.
Fortunately, it seems that the second month of 2016 is bringing some renewed interest: five companies are expected list on the NASDAQ in February. Of those companies, four have already come to call, receiving receptive welcomes from investors. Here’s a brief look at those four stocks.

AveXis (NASDAQ:AVXS)

On February 10, AveXis went to market with its IPO. The offering of 4,750,000 shares was announced at $20 per share before underwriting and discounts. The company also granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 712,00 shares at the IPO price. The company started trading on the NASDAQ under the symbol AVXS on February 11.

AveXis is a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on rare and orphan neurological genetic diseases. The company’s proprietary candidate drug, AVXS-101, has been granted orphan drug designation for the treatment of all types of spinal muscular atrophy. AveXis completed its enrollment in Phase 1 clinical trials in January 2016.
Since its IPO, AveXis has traded slightly down, and ended Wednesday at $18.77.

Proteostasis Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTI)

According to Proteostasis, maintaining protein homeostasis is imperative to a healthy life. When working properly, the proteostasis network ensures that every protein within a cell reaches its final destination correctly with the appropriate function. As such, the company is pursuing novel therapeutics to pharmacologically control the proteostasis network. In doing so, the the company can either restore or enhance the capacity of a compromised PN in order to control or delay the progression of a disease.
The company announced its IPO on February 11, and listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol PTI; 6,250,000 shares were offered at a price of $8 per share. Underwriters were also given an option for a 30-day purchase of up to 937,500 additional shares. Proteostasis closed the offering on February 17 for total gross proceeds of $50 million before deductions.
A week later, the company is already feeling the drag of biotech stocks; it ended Wednesday down slightly, at $6.11.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT)

For investors interested in genetics investing, Editas Medicine could be just the ticket. On February 2, the gene-editing company announced its IPO of 5,900,000 common shares priced at $16 each (before underwriting discounts and commissions).

What makes Editas Medicine an interesting investment? Well, the company is working with a transformative new technology in the field of genome editing. CRISPR (clustered, regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)/Cas9 (CRISPR associated protein 9) and TALENs (transcription activator-life effector nucleases) are gene-editing methods that can overcome challenges faced by previous techniques.
With CRISPR/Cas9, the Cas9 protein binds to specific RNA molecules that guide the Cas9 complex to the precise location in the genome that requires repairs. TALENs, on the other hand, are proteins that can be custom programmed to bind to just about any DNA sequence of interest and to direct gene modification activities to specific targets in the genome.
The company is looking to use this technology to develop a novel class of human therapeutics that enable precise and corrective molecular modification to treat the underlying cause of a broad range of diseases at the genetic level. Editas Medicine started trading on February 3 on the NASDAQ under the symbol EDIT. Since market open, it has seen its share price climb 13.19 percent, to $18.11.

BeiGene (NASDAQ:BGNE)

Like Editas Medicine, BeiGene announced its IPO on Feburary 2. The biotechnology company came to the market with 6,600,000 American depositary shares representing 13 ordinary shares, par value of $0.0001 per share. BeiGene set its IPO for $24 per ADS (before underwriting and discounts).
China-headquartered BeiGene is a drug developer working on targeted and immuno-oncological therapeutics. The company is advancing its pipeline, which consists of novel oral small molecules and monoclonal antibodies for cancer.

BeiGene’s lead candidates are BGB-3111 and BGB-A317. The former is a potent and highly selective small molecule BTK inhibitor currently being evaluated in dose expansion clinical trials as a monotherapy, and in combination with other therapies to treat a variety of lymphomas.
BGB-A317, on the other hand, is a humanized monoclonal antibody against the immune checkpoint receptor PD-1. BeiGene believes that it is to be differentiated from the currently “approved PD-1 antibodies with the ability to bind Fc gamma receptor I specifically engineered out, and has the potential to restore a T-cell’s cancer killing ability by inhibiting PD-1 and removing the blockade of immune activation against cancer.”
BeiGene started trading on February 3 on the NASDAQ under the symbol BGNE. Since market open, the company has seen an 18-percent increase, to $28.32. The offering is expected to close on February 8, 2016, subject to customary closing conditions

Stay tuned…

Still cued up for a NASDAQ IPO this month is Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals. The company will trade under the symbol CPP. Stay tuned for more on the newest additions to the life science pool.

 
This is an update to an article previously published on February 4, 2016.
Securities Disclosure: I, Vivien Diniz, hold no investment interest in any of the companies mentioned in this article.