With a trio of biotechs hitting the Nasdaq on Friday, it was easy to miss a smaller-scale public debut from another clinical-stage drug developer on the other side of the European Society of Medical Oncology annual meeting this weekend.
Unlike last week’s nine-figure offerings, Kairos Pharma’s IPO brought in a more modest $6.2 million yesterday. The Los Angeles-based biotech—whose stock listed on the NYSE under the ticker “KAPA” Sept. 16—sold 1.55 million shares at $4 apiece.
Underwriters have 45 days to buy an additional 232,500 shares at the same price, which could bring in another $930,000, the company explained in a Sept. 16 release.
The top priority for spending the IPO proceeds is the biotech’s lead candidate ENV 105, an endoglin-targeting monoclonal antibody that the company said is designed to “reverse resistance to standard-of-care drugs.”
Kairos is already assessing ENV 105 in a phase 1 trial for non-small cell lung cancer in combination with AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso, as well as a phase 2 prostate cancer study in combination with Johnson & Johnson’s Erleada.
Behind ENV 105 are preclinical candidates like KROS 101, a small molecule agonist for the GITR ligand, which is designed to promote T cell growth and cytotoxic function against cancer. There’s also ENV 205, an antibody that targets mitochondrial DNA that’s elevated as patients become resistant to chemotherapies.
Kairos’ stock had a bumpy ride on its first day of trading, shedding 35% of its value to end Monday down at $2.60.
It’s a stark contrast to the three biotech Nasdaq IPOs on Friday, which all experienced a warmer reception on the public markets. Bicara Therapeutics’ $315 million offering was the largest IPO of the day, and the company saw its $18 debut share price jump 41% to $25.41 by close of trading Monday. Meanwhile, MBX was trading up 26% at $21.65, and Zenas BioPharma was trading up 5% at $17.90 by the same point.
Kairos launched as a spinout from the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in 2013 before merging with AcTcell Biopharma in 2019. Two years later, the biotech also absorbed Enviro Therapeutics, which had been developing ENV 105.