Radius Health is betting the promise of its bone-boosting drug will sway investors to buy into its planned $92 million IPO, forging ahead in what has become a shaky market for biotech debuts.
The Cambridge, MA, biotech is planning to flip 5 million shares at between $14 and $16 apiece, setting aside another 750,000 for its underwriters with hopes of hitting the Nasdaq under "RDUS."
The company's lead candidate, the subcutaneous abaloparatide, is a peptide-based osteoporosis treatment that amps up bone density, now in the midst of Phase III study. Radius expects to report out data by year's end, betting the drug can do the job with lower rates of hypercalcemia than Eli Lilly's ($LLY) blockbuster bone drug Forteo, and if the late-stage trial works out, the biotech figures it can win FDA approval by 2016.
Behind its top prospect, Radius is in Phase II with a trandsermal patch formulation of abaloparatide and has entered mid-stage trials for RAD1901, an oral treatment with applications in vasomotor symptoms and breast cancer.
Meanwhile, the once-roiling market for biotech debutantes has largely cooled. After a galling first quarter saw 29 life sciences companies raise $2.1 billion in IPOs, Q2's class of entrants has had a tougher go, with many discounting their offerings or postponing plans altogether.
The industry's exchange-traded fund ($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.
- read the S-1