US-based cancer drug developer Ikena Oncology floated on Friday in a $125m initial public offering representing an exit for pharmaceutical firm Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS).
The offering consisted of just over 7.81 million shares priced at $16.00 each, at the middle of the IPO’s $15 to $17 range. They were issued on the Nasdaq Global Market and closed at $32.00 at the end of their first day of trading, taking its market capitalisation to nearly $483m.
Founded in 2016, Ikena is developing therapies for genetically defined or biomarker-driven cancers that will target cell-signalling pathways responsible for cancerous cells being formed and spread.
Ikena will put up to $40m into completing a phase 1 clinical trial for a drug candidate called IK-930 for cancers related to the Hippo signalling pathway, and between $25m and $30m to take a second, ERK5, into a phase 1 trial for cancers mutated by the KRAS gene.
Up to $60m will be allocated to advancing the two candidates Ikena is developing with BMS – IK-175 and IK-412 – through phase 1b trials, and $10m to $15m to take another, IK-007, through a phase 1b trial for microsatellite stable colorectal cancer.
The company secured $48m in a 2017 series A round co-led by Atlas Venture and OrbiMed before Celgene – a drug producer since acquired by BMS – invested $14.5m in January 2019 through a collaboration agreement that included an $80m upfront payment.
Omega Funds led Ikena’s $120m series B round in January this year, investing with BMS, investment and financial services group Fidelity, Atlas Venture, OrbiMed, Surveyor Capital, Invus, Farallon Capital Management, BVF Partners, Cowen Healthcare Investments, Logos Capital and HealthCor Management.
BMS held a 7.9% stake in the company through Celgene that was cut to 6.15% in the offering. OrbiMed is its largest shareholder, with a 22.8% stake post-IPO, and its other notable investors are Atlas Venture (14.2%), Fidelity (7.2%) and Omega Funds (5.2%).
Joint book-running managers Jefferies, Cowen, Credit Suisse and William Blair have a 30-day option to acquire more than 1.17 million extra shares, boosting the size of the offering to nearly $144m.
