Upstream Bio has swollen its IPO to $255 million as the company joins CAMP4 Therapeutics this morning in becoming the latest biotechs to list on the Nasdaq.
Upstream had previously expected to sell 12.5 million shares at a price somewhere between $15 and $17 apiece. But the inflammation-focused biotech has now increased the number of shares available to 15 million, which it is selling at the upper end of its range of $17.
It means the company is now set to rake in $255 million in gross proceeds rather than the $182 million in net proceeds it had previously set out. The money could rise by a further $38 million if underwriters fully take up the expanded offer to buy an additional 2.25 million shares at the new price, according to a post-market release Oct. 10.
The Waltham, Massachusetts-based biotech already spelled out last month how part of the proceeds will go toward completing an ongoing phase 2 trial of verekitug in severe asthma as well as launching a phase 3 study in the same indication. Funds will also be used to continue an ongoing phase 2 study of verekitug in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, with plans for a phase 3 to follow. In addition, the biotech has its eye on a potential phase 2 study in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The company has pitched verekitug as the “only known antagonist currently in clinical development that targets the receptor for thymic stromal lymphopoietin.” This cytokine is a known driver of the inflammatory response, affecting a range of immune-mediated diseases.
CAMP4 also tweaked its IPO late yesterday. The RNA-focused biotech has dropped its share price to $11, significantly below the range of between $14 and $16 it set out earlier this week. However, it has also boosted the amount of shares on offer from 5 million to 6.8 million, meaning the gross proceeds still shake out at around the $75 million mark.
The amount of additional shares available to underwriters at the new, lower price has also gone up from 750,000 to over 1 million, according to an Oct. 10 release, which could bring in a further $11 million.
Top of the list of spending priorities will be CMP-CPS-001, an antisense oligonucleotide CAMP4 is touting as a potential first-in-class treatment for urea cycle disorders. The candidate is currently in a phase 1 trial for healthy volunteers, but CAMP4 plans to use the IPO proceeds to continue CMP-CPS-001’s clinical development.
Upstream will list this morning under the ticker “UPB,” while CAMP4 will use “CAMP.” The two companies are joining a renewed trickle of biotech IPOs this fall that includes Bicara Therapeutics, Zenas BioPharma and MBX all going public on the same day last month.