Sept 18 (Askume) – Obesity-focused biotech BioAge Labs said on Wednesday it was seeking a valuation of up to $587 million in a U.S. initial public offering , according to a regulatory filing.
Healthcare companies fared relatively well in a sluggish US IPO market in 2024, with analysts calling it a comeback year for public offerings.
The Richmond, California-based company joins a number of biotech companies that will go public this year. The trend comes as anti-obesity drug developers have attracted interest from Wall Street and backing from a number of venture capital giants.
MBX Biosciences (MBX.O), which is developing treatments for diseases such as diabetes and obesity, saw its shares surge nearly 44% in its Nasdaq debut last week .
BioAge’s experimental drug azelaprag is being developed to treat obesity in combination with GLP-1 agonists such as Eli Lilly and Co.’s (LLY.N) Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s (NOVOb.CO) Wegovy.
Some analysts estimate that the market for these new weight-loss drugs could reach $150 billion by the early 2030s.
BioAge has begun mid-stage trials of its drug in collaboration with Zepbound and plans to test it in collaboration with Wegovy in the first half of 2025.
A portion of the proceeds from the IPO is expected to be used to advance the development of Azelaprag into late-stage studies, the company said.
A few months ago, BioEdge raised $170 million in a funding round led by life sciences investment firm Sofinnova Investments.
Sofinnova Venture Partners currently holds 7.3% of the Company’s beneficial ownership. The Company plans to reduce its stake to approximately 5.3% after the issuance.
BioEdge will be listed on the Nasdaq under the stock symbol “BIOA.”
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Jefferies and Citigroup are the underwriters of the offering.
