Dec 19 (Reuters) - Aktis Oncology filed for an initial public offering in the United States on Friday, as stock market listings from the biotech industry rebound after a slowdown.
After a months-long drought, biotech IPOs — a key driver of U.S. healthcare listings — are showing green shoots as interest rates come down and capital inflows into the sector spike.
Since September, biotech firms LB Pharmaceuticals LBRX.O, MapLight Therapeutics MPLT.O, and Evommune EVMN.N have gone public in New York.
While regulatory volatility is likely to remain a headwind for the biotech sector, analysts say that policy and pricing fears seem to be less disruptive than initially feared.
Co-founded in August 2020 by biotech investor Todd Foley, Aktis Oncology is developing treatments for a broad range of solid tumors. The Boston, Massachusetts-based company plans to sell new shares in the offering.
Aktis Oncology's lead candidate, AKY-1189, is in an early-stage study to treat certain solid tumors, including a form of advanced bladder cancer, breast cancer and colorectal cancer. Preliminary data from the trial is expected in the first quarter of 2027.
Since its inception, Aktis Oncology has raised roughly $346 million, including a $175 million Series B funding round in 2024, from life sciences institutional investors such as MPM BioImpact, Vida Ventures, EcoR1 Capital and Blue Owl Capital.
The company reported a net loss of $48.6 million in the nine months ended September 30, compared with a net loss of $31.9 million in the same period a year earlier. Revenue jumped to $4.6 million in the nine-month period from $0.6 million a year earlier.
Aktis Oncology, formerly known as HotKnot Therapeutics, will list on the Nasdaq under the "AKTS" ticker symbol.
J.P. Morgan, BofA Securities, Leerink Partners and TD Cowen are the lead underwriters for the offering.
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
((ArasuKannagi.Basil@thomsonreuters.com))
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