Obexelimab

Joining Zenas BioPharma on the Nasdaq today is MBX, which has also slightly upsized its offering. It’s an unusually busy Friday for biotech IPOs, with Zenas BioPharma, MBX and Bicara Therapeutics all going public with fine-tuned offerings.Of today’s three Nasdaq debuts, Bicara is set to make the biggest splash. The cancer-focused biotech is now offering 17.5 million shares at $18 apiece, a significant advance on the 11.8 million shares the company had originally expected to offer when it set out IPO plans last week.Rather than the $210 million the company had originally hoped to raise , Bicara's offering this morning should bring in around $315 million—with potentially a further $47 million to come if underwriters take up their 30-day option to buy an additional 2.6 million shares at the same price. The final share price of $18 also marks the top end of the $16-$18 range the biotech previously set out.Bicara, which will trade under the ticker "BCAX" from this morning, is seeking money to fund a pivotal phase 2/3 clinical trial of ficerafusp alfa in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The biotech plans to use the late-phase data to support a filing for FDA approval of its bifunctional antibody that targets EGFR and TGF-β. Zenas has also slightly increased its own offering, expecting to bring in $225 million in gross proceeds via the sale of 13.2 million shares of its public stock at $17 apiece. Underwriters also have a 30-day option to buy almost 2 million additional shares at the same price, which could reap a further $33.7 million.That potential combined total of almost $260 million marks an increase on the $208.6 million in net proceeds the biotech had originally planned to bring in by selling 11.7 million shares initially followed by 1.7 million to underwriters.Zenas’ stock will begin trading under the ticker “ZBIO” this morning.The biotech explained last month how its top priority will be funding a slate of studies of obexelimab in multiple indications, including an ongoing phase 3 trial in people with the chronic fibro-inflammatory condition immunoglobulin G4-related disease. Phase 2 trials in multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus and a phase 2/3 study in warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia make up the rest of the slate.Obexelimab targets CD19 and FcγRIIb, mimicking the natural antigen-antibody complex to inhibit a broad B-cell population. Because the bifunctional antibody is designed to block, rather than deplete or destroy, B-cell lineage, Zenas believes chronic dosing may achieve better outcomes, over longer courses of maintenance therapy, than existing drugs. Joining Bicara and Zenas on the Nasdaq today is MBX, which has also slightly upsized its offering. The autoimmune-focused biotech started the week estimating that it would sell 8.5 million shares priced between $14 and $16 apiece.Not only has the company since settled on the top end of this price range, but it has also bumped up the overall amount of shares available in the IPO to 10.2 million. It means that instead of the $114.8 million in net proceeds that MBX was discussing on Monday, it’s now looking at $163.2 million in gross proceeds, according to a post-market release Sept. 12.The company could rake in a further $24.4 million if underwriters fully exercise their option to buy an additional 1.53 million shares.MBX’s stock is due to list on the Nasdaq this morning under the ticker “MBX,” and the company has already set out how it will use its IPO proceeds to advance its two clinical-stage candidates, including the hypoparathyroidism therapy MBX 2109. The aim is to report top-line data from a phase 2 trial in the third quarter of 2025 and then take the drug into phase 3.

WALTHAM, Mass., Sept. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zenas BioPharma, Inc. (“Zenas”), (Nasdaq: ZBIO) a clinical-stage global biopharmaceutical company committed to being a leader in the development and commercialization of transformative immunology-based therapies, today announced the pricing of its upsized initial public offering of 13,235,294 shares of its common stock at an initial public offering price of $17.00 per share. All of the shares are being offered by Zenas. The gross proceeds from the offering, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses, are expected to be approximately $225.0 million. Zenas’ common stock is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on September 13, 2024 under the ticker symbol “ZBIO”. The offering is expected to close on September 16, 2024, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. In addition, Zenas has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,985,294 shares of common stock at the initial public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, Citigroup, and Guggenheim Securities are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. Registration statements relating to the shares being sold in the offering have been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and became effective on September 12, 2024. The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the final prospectus, when available, may be obtained from: Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10014, or by email at prospectus@morganstanley.com; and from Jefferies LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate Prospectus Department, 520 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022, by telephone at (877) 821-7388, or by email at Prospectus_Department@Jefferies.com. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any offer or sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. About Zenas BioPharma, Inc. Zenas is a clinical-stage global biopharmaceutical company committed to becoming a leader in the development and commercialization of transformative immunology-based therapies for patients in need. Our core business strategy combines our experienced leadership team with a disciplined product candidate acquisition approach to identify, acquire and develop product candidates globally that we believe can provide superior clinical benefits to patients living with autoimmune diseases. Zenas’ lead product candidate, obexelimab, is a bifunctional monoclonal antibody designed to bind both CD19 and FcγRIIb, which are broadly present across B cell lineage, to inhibit the activity of cells that are implicated in many autoimmune diseases without depleting them. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, including statements about the completion, timing and size of the initial public offering and the commencement of trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Each forward-looking statement is subject to the inherent uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions and no assurance can be given that the initial public offering discussed above will be completed on the terms described or at all. Completion of the proposed initial public offering and the terms thereof are subject to numerous factors, many of which are beyond the control of Zenas, including, without limitation, market conditions, failure of customary closing conditions and the factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of the prospectus that forms a part of the registration statement, in the form last filed with the SEC. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and Zenas undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Investor Contact:Matthew OsborneInvestor Relations and Corporate CommunicationsMatt.osborne@zenasbio.com Media Contact:Argot PartnersZenas@argotpartners.com