The once-vibrant market for biotech IPOs is steadily dying down amid so-so debuts and tepid stock performances, a climate that led Agile Therapeutics to scale back its ambitions and Radius Health to postpone its offering altogether.
Radius had planned to raise as much as $92 million and hit the Nasdaq under "RDUS," looking to bankroll the development of its Phase III osteoporosis drug. Citing, as always, "market conditions," the biotech has now pulled the plug on that offer, and it'll have to look elsewhere for the cash it needs to wrap up development on its bone-bolstering treatment.
Separately, Princeton, NJ's Agile lopped $9 million off of its proposed public offering, now planning to sell 4.6 million shares at between $12 and $14 apiece, an IPO worth $60 million at its midpoint. If all goes according to plan, that cash will fund late-stage work on Twirla, a contraceptive patch that combines estrogen and progestin. The patch is in the midst of a Phase III study with data expected next year, and, if the treatment wins approval, Agile figures it can amass a sales force and launch on its own, tapping an estimated $5.6 billion domestic market.
Meanwhile, biotech's charms would seem to have worn off on investors. After a staggering first quarter saw 29 life sciences companies raise $2.1 billion in IPOs, Q2's class of entrants has had a tougher go, with many discounting their offerings or postponing plans altogether. Corium ($CORI), Cerulean ($CERU) and Vital Therapies ($VTAL) each slashed their offering prices to pull off IPOs last month, and, this week, high-profile Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY) collaborator Alder Biopharmaceuticals took a hefty discount to make its way to Wall Street.
The industry's exchange-traded fund ($IBB) has taken a beating over the past few weeks, as tepid performances from large-cap outfits like Gilead Sciences ($GILD) and Amgen ($AMGN) have trickled down to smaller biotechs and dampened IPO optimism.
- here's Radius' filing
- read Agile's S-1
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