Stock price for B.C. biotech firm takes off on its COVID-19 therapies
A Canadian biotech company that's on the leading edge of COVID-19 therapies saw its stock price soar 185 per cent on its debut on Friday on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Abcellera Biologics Inc. is working with Indianapolis-based drug titan Eli Lilly & Co. on the same type of medicine that was given to U.S. President Donald Trump during his bout, a monoclonal antibody treatment. Peter Thiel, who founded Paypal Holdings Inc. and was one of Facebook Inc.'s early investors, is on its board.
Bamlanivimab, the drug developed by Abcellera and Eli Lilly, was authorized last month by Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat mild-to-moderate COVID symptoms. The interim and emergency approvals were based on phase 2 clinical data showing the drug reduced viral load, symptoms, and hospitalizations, Abcellera said. “It is designed to block viral attachment and entry into human cells, thus neutralizing the virus,” AbCellera says on its website. “It was identified from a blood sample taken from one of the first U.S. patients who recovered from COVID-19.”
Its stock, trading under the ticker symbol ABCL, blew past all expectations, jumping to US$57 per share on its first day.
On Thursday, the Vancouver-based company had raised its initial public offering by around US$3 to US$20 a share for a potential capital raising of US$483 million, giving it a market cap of
US$5.3 billion. The company had originally sought to raise $200 million, but the price had perked up on rising demand.
Credit Suisse Group AG, Stifel Financial Corp., Berenberg Bank, SVG Leerink and BMO Capital Markets are the underwriters.
Calls and emails seeking comment from Abcellera were not returned.
The latest IPO comes amid a health-care and tech listing boom this year because of COVID-19.
Abcellera reported net income
of $1.9 million on revenue of $25.2 million for the nine months ended Sept. 30 after a loss of about $570,000 on revenue of $8.4 million in the same period a year ago.