Apr 24, 2020 - Economy

ORIC Pharmaceuticals raises $120 million during IPO

Dan Primack

Illustration of an equation involving medical supplies and money — Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios

ORIC Pharmaceuticals, a developer of therapies for treatment-resistant cancers, raised $120 million in its IPO. The San Francisco-based company priced 7.5 million shares at $16, versus initial plans to sell 5 million shares at between $14-$16, giving it an initial market cap of $441 million.

Why it matters: This reflects how the IPO market remains open for biotech startups and SPACs, likely because neither type of issuer has any revenue to lose from pandemic closures.

ROI: ORIC had raised $173 million in VC funding from firms like The Column Group (22.4% pre-IPO stake), Topspin Fund (15.6%), OrbiMed (11.7%), and EcoR1 Capital (5.8%).

The bottom line: "The discovery of ORIC’s lead experimental drug stemmed from work done by co-founder Charles Sawyers. Previously Sawyers was involved in the discovery of enzalutamide, which aims seeks to slow tumor cell growth by blocking androgens from binding with the androgen receptor. (Androgens, male sex hormones, prompt prostate cancer cell growth.) Another company co-founder, Scott Lowe, is a colleague of Sawyers and an expert in tumor networks and the factors in cancer cells’ response to treatment." — Sarah de Crescenzo, Xconomy

Go deeper: Meet the startups that have raised more than $1 billion

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ORIC Pharmaceuticals raises $120 million during IPO

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