4 Biotech IPOs Hoping to Become First U.S. IPO of 2016

To say that the month of January was a bust for initial public offerings (IPOs) is an understatement. January was a complete zero—not a single IPO priced this month making it the first month in more than 4 years without a single IPO.

In 2015 a total of 170 companies launched into the public markets according to IPO ETF manager Renaissance Capital, and those companies raised a total of $30 billion. Of the total, 78 newly public companies came from the healthcare sector. In 2014, 275 companies came public and raised $85.3 billion. Renaissance Capital does not include “best efforts” or blank-check companies in its totals.

Of the four companies scheduled to price last week, one has postponed its IPO and the other three are going to try again this coming week. In addition, four first-time IPOs, all biotechs, are set to try to enter the public markets.

AmeriQuest Inc., a cloud-based provider of products to address the financial process, procurement, and asset management needs of businesses, has postponed its IPO indefinitely citing market volatility.
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One of last week’s do-overs is Shimmick Construction Company Inc., a heavy civil construction company offering services to federal, state, and local public agencies and private customers in California and the Western United States. The company plans to offer 6.25 million shares in an expected price range of $11 to $13. Approximately half the shares are being sold by existing stakeholders, so the company’s proceeds at the midpoint of the range would be about $44.8 million at an implied market cap of $181.5 million. Sole bookrunner for the offering is FBR Capital Markets and co-managers are BB&T Capital Markets and D.A. Davidson. Pricing and the start of trading are given as day-to-day. The stock will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SCCI.

Another mulligan from last week, Nordic Realty Trust is a REIT that plans to focus on the acquisition, ownership, leasing, management, and redevelopment of office and industrial properties located in the Nordic countries. The company plans to offer 5 million shares at a price of $15, raising $75 million at an implied market cap of $80.6 million. Concurrently the firm will sell $3 million in shares at the same price in a private placement. Sole bookrunner for the offering is Wunderlich Securities. Co-managers include Compass Point, Janney Montgomery Scott, JMP Securities, Nomura Securities, Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., National Securities, and Boenning & Scattergood. Pricing and trading are listed as day-to-day. Shares will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol NORT.

The third company to come back for another try is Advanced Inhalation Therapies (AIT) Ltd., an Israel-based company that is developing a single proprietary 160 parts-per-million nitric oxide formulation and delivery system to treat various respiratory infections. The company plans to offer 675,000 units at $15 per unit. Each unit consists of two ordinary shares and three warrants to purchase one ordinary share. The company plans to raise $10.1 million at an implied market cap of $66.3 million. Sole bookrunner is Joseph Gunnar & Co. Units, shares, and warrants are expected to begin trading on Thursday on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbols AITPU, AITP, and AITPW, respectively.

The first of the coming week’s new biotech offerings is Mapi – Pharma Ltd., an Israel-based development stage pharmaceutical company which is developing generic drugs that have both high added value and high barriers to entry from competitors. The company plans to offer 3.125 million shares in an expected price range of $15 to $17 a share raising $50 million at an implied market cap of $118.2 million. Sole bookrunner for the offering is JMP Securities and co-managers are Maxim Group LLC and FBR Capital Markets. Pricing is listed only as the week of February 1, and shares are set to trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol MAPI.

PLx Pharma Inc. is a late stage specialty pharmaceutical company developing a new oral delivery system for cardiovascular disease and pain and inflammation. The company plans to offer 3.8 million shares in an expected price range of $17 to $19 to raise more than $68 million at an implied market cap of $168.7 million. Joint bookrunners for the offering are Raymond James and Maxim Group LLC. Co-manager is Janney Montgomery Scott. Shares are expected to price Monday and begin trading Tuesday on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol PLXP.

Editas Medicine Inc. is a genome editing company that seeks to try to correct genetically defined diseases by correcting their disease-causing genes. The company plans to offer 5.9 million shares in an IPO price range of $16 to $18, raising $100 million at an implied market cap of around $607 million. Joint bookrunners for the offering are Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan. Co-managers are Cowen & Co. and JMP Securities. Shares are expected to price Tuesday and begin trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol EDIT.

BeiGene Ltd. is a Chinese biopharmaceutical company incorporated in the Cayman Islands developing immuno-oncology drugs for the treatment of cancer. The company is offering 5.5 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) in an expected price range of $22 to $24 per share to raise $126.5 million at an implied market cap of about $686 million. Each ADS is equivalent to 13 ordinary shares. Joint bookrunners for the offering are Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Cowen & Co. Co-manager is Baird. Shares are set to price Wednesday and begin trading on Thursday on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol BGNE.