BioAge Labs (BIOA Proposed), a Phase II biotech developing an anti-obesity drug, upsized its IPO early today by increasing the number of shares to 10.5 million – up from 7.5 million originally – according to an S-1/A filing dated Sept. 25, 2024. That’s a 40 percent increase. BioAge Labs now expects to raise $189 million – up from $135 million originally. The price range remained the same – at $17.00 to $19.00. The IPO’s proceeds will be used to finance clinical trials.
BioAge Labs is expected to price its IPO tonight – Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024 – to trade Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024 – on the NASDAQ.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Jefferies and Citigroup are the joint book-runners.
Under the new terms, the market cap for BioAge Labs would be $606.01 million – up from $556.41 million under the original terms – assuming pricing at the $18.00 mid-point of its range.
The Phase 2 biotech has a licensing agreement with Amgen, a material transfer agreement with Eli Lilly, and a commercial research funding agreement with Wellcome Leap, according to the prospectus. The IPO was launched a week ago today – Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024 – after BioAge Labs disclosed its initial terms in an S-1/A filing.
BioAge Labs is evaluating its leading drug candidate, azelaprag, a pill, combined with an injectable GLP-1R agonist, in two Phase 2 clinical trials. GLP-1 agonists are glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists – a class of medications that includes Ozempic and Wegovy (semaglutide is the active ingredient) and Mounjaro and Zepbound (tirzepatide is the active ingredient) – used to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity, according to the National Institutes of Health and WebMd.
The BioAge Labs’ leading oral drug candidate, azelaprag, will be combined in Phase 2 clinical trials with either:
– An injection of tirzepatide, marketed as Zepbound, Eli Lilly’s injectible drug to fight obesity; this is an ongoing STRIDES clinical trial with topline results anticipated in the third quarter of 2025, or
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– An injection of semaglutide, marketed as Wegovy by Novo Nordisk; this Phase 2 trial is expected to begin in the first half of 2025 with topline results expected in the second half of 2026.
“We believe these trials will directly support our ultimate therapeutic goal of developing an all-oral combination product for obesity,” BioAge Labs said in the prospectus.
BioAge Labs, founded in 2015, is based in the San Francisco suburb of Richmond, California.
Principal shareholders include co-founder and CEO Kristen Fortney, who owns a 9.8 percent stake in BioAge Labs, and two of the top 15 U.S. venture capital firms – Andreessen Horowitz owns – through various entities – a pre-IPO stake of 9.4 percent of the outstanding stock, while Khosla Ventures has a pre-IPO stake of 8 percent.
BioAge Labs, like most clinical biotechs when they go public, has a history of net losses and no product revenue. BioAge Labs reported a net loss of $62.2 million on no product revenue for the 12 months that ended June 30, 2024, according to the prospectus.
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