BioAge, positive debut on Nasdaq

BioAge Labs Inc., an American clinical-stage biotechnology company that develops therapies for obesity and metabolic diseases, raised approximately $200 million through its initial public offering (IPO) held last week on the US market, fiercebiotech.com reports.

The money thus obtained will be allocated by the company to the continuation of clinical studies on its drug for obesity.

After initially determining that it would sell approximately 10.5 million shares at a price between $17 and $19 each, the biotechnology firm announced that it would slightly increase this stake to 11 million shares. The final share price was $18, meaning BioAge raised $198 million in gross proceeds from the offering.

The company said last week that it expects net proceeds from the IPO, combined with a concurrent private placement of $10.6 million of shares, to reach $180.6 million.

BioAge, based in Richmond, California, is listed on Nasdaq under the symbol "BIOA". At the close of Thursday's session, the BioAge share was worth $18.31. At the opening of the debut session, the one on Thursday, the company's shares had risen by 25% compared to the IPO quote.

Taking into account the price set for the IPO, BioAge has a market value of more than 550 million dollars, based on the outstanding shares listed. The company was valued at $394 million after raising $194 million in a Series D funding round in February, according to data provider PitchBook.

BioAge's initial public offering was led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc.

According to Bloomberg, after a series of "lacklustre" transactions, the biotechnology industry has new debutants on the IPO market. Drug developers that have raised more than $10 million in U.S. initial public offerings this year have mostly underperformed, with six of the 11 listed firms falling below their initial public offerings. The average drop in traded shares was 45% below the offer price, according to Bloomberg data. In addition to BioAge, MBX Biosciences Inc. will try to buck the downward trend, with bankers and industry lawyers saying the market's reaction to the next batch of listings will signal whether other high-profile companies can make it in 2024 or early 2025.

Drug developers have raised $2 billion this year through IPOs through Sept. 3, up 24 percent from the same period last year, but the industry's share of U.S. IPO revenue has declined, the source said. cited.