U.S. IPO Week Ahead: One Biotech Takes On A Turbulent IPO Market

Facing record-high volatility and market uncertainty, one biotech is scheduled for the week ahead.

Formed by New Enterprise Associate’s orphan drug accelerator Cydan, genetic disorder biotech Imara (IMRA) plans to raise $76 million at a $301 million market cap. The Boston-based company’s sole candidate IMR-687 is a once-a-day therapy targeting sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia by inhibiting PDE9. It is expected to begin a Phase 2b trial in the 1H20. While there is significant unmet medical need for both disorders, it is a crowded space, with three products approved in 2019. Recent biotech IPOs have held their ground in the market sell off, though Imara is significantly smaller, later stage than most of them, and its narrow-pipeline peers traded down the past month.

After a furry of filings, the IPO calendar remains sparse looking ahead, with delays from Adotech (ATC), Warner Music (WMGC), Madewell (MDWL), and Cole Haan (CLHN). Azek (AZEK) and Vontier (VNT) haven’t given any update on if they are going to wait until the market becomes less volatile.

Street research is expected for four companies on Monday, 3/9: Huize (NASDAQ:HUIZ), Revolution Medicines (NASDAQ:RVMD), TFI International (TFII), and Trxade Group (MEDS).

Lock-ups are expiring for seven companies. On Monday, 3/9: Datadog (NASDAQ:DDOG) and Mohawk Group (NASDAQ:MWK). On Tuesday 3/10: 10x Genomics (NASDAQ:TXG) and SmileDirectClub (NASDAQ:SDC). On Wednesday 3/11: Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS), Satsuma Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:STSA) and SpringWorks Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SWTX).

U.S. IPO Calendar

Issuer
Business

Deal Size
Market Cap

Price Range
Shares Filed

Top
Bookrunners

Imara
Boston, MA

$76M
$301M

$16 – $18
4,450,000

Morgan Stanley
Citi

Phase 2 biotech developing small molecule therapies for rare genetic disorders.

IPO Market Snapshot

The Renaissance IPO Indices are market cap weighted baskets of newly public companies. As of 2/27/20, the Renaissance IPO Index was up 1.7% year-to-date, while the S&P 500 was down 6.1%. Renaissance Capital’s IPO ETF (NYSE: IPO) tracks the index, and top ETF holdings include Uber (NYSE:UBER) and Spotify (NYSE:SPOT). The Renaissance International IPO Index was up 3.8% year-to-date, while the ACWX was down 7.8%. Renaissance Capital’s International IPO ETF (NYSE: IPOS) tracks the index, and top ETF holdings include Adyen and SoftBank.

Original Post

Editor’s Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.

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