US-based pharmaceutical company Seres Therapeutics closed its initial public offering at $153.8m yesterday after the underwriters fully exercised the option to buy additional shares.
Seres, which counts food and nutritional product manufacturer Nestlé and healthcare research company Mayo Clinic among its backers, initially raised $134m when it issued 7.4 million shares priced at $18 each on Friday last week.
The company’s stock skyrocketed on its debut, and it finished its first day of trading at $51.40.
Although it dropped to $39.80 at the end of trading on Monday, underwriters Goldman Sachs, BofA Merrill Lynch, Leerink Partners and Canaccord Genuity subsequently bought an additional 1.1 million shares to close the IPO.
Seres is developing treatments for bacterial infections and its lead product candidate, a therapy for colon infection, will be advanced through Phase 2 clinical trials with $25m of the IPO proceeds. A further $40m will help three additional candidates through pre-clinical testing.
Nestlé subsidiary Nestlé Health Science held a 12.5% stake in Seres prior to the extra shares being issued. Other notable shareholders include venture capital firm Flagship Ventures (45.4%), Fidelity Management & Research Company (6.7%) and Enso (4.9%).
Despite taking part in Seres’ $10m series B round in June 2014, Mayo Clinic owns less than 5% of the company’s stock.