On Thursday, Kailera Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:KLRA) priced its initial public offering of 39.06 million shares at $16.00 per share, with gross proceeds of around $625 million.
In addition, Kailera has granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 5.86 million shares.
Biotech Debut Stands Out In Crowded Obesity Drug Race
Kailera will join a crowded field of drugmakers jockeying to win a slice of what could be a $200 billion obesity market by 2030. Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY) and Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) lead the pack with FDA-approved weight loss pills and injectables.
The listing is the biggest U.S. biotech debut since 2021, when cell-engineering firm Sana Biotechnology Inc. (NASDAQ:SANA) raised $676 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Kailera Therapeutics Pipeline Centers On GLP-1-Based Obesity Treatments
Kailera is progressing four clinical-stage candidates targeting obesity, leveraging multiple glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) based mechanisms of action and routes of administration.
Its lead candidate, ribupatide (also known as KAI-9531), is currently being evaluated in global Phase 3 trials as a once-weekly injectable drug.
The company is expanding its ribupatide franchise by developing a once-daily oral tablet formulation, oral ribupatide, based on the same peptide as injectable ribupatide.
Kailera Therapeutics Oral Ribupatide Expansion Shows Promising Trial Data
In February, Hengrui Pharma and Kailera Therapeutics released topline data from Hengrui's Phase 2 trial of once-daily oral ribupatide in Chinese patients.
Participants receiving oral ribupatide demonstrated a mean weight reduction from baseline of up to 12.1% at 26 weeks, with no observed plateau in weight loss. Vomiting was reported in no more than 11.4% of participants.
Up to 38.6% of participants taking oral ribupatide achieved at least 15% weight loss.
In March, Eli Lilly released news regarding its investigational drug, retatrutide, which has shown promising results in clinical trials.
In the latest updates, Eli Lilly announced that retatrutide significantly lowered A1C (blood sugar) levels by an average of 1.7% to 2.0% over 40 weeks in the TRANSCEND-T2D-1 trial.
Participants taking the 12 mg dose also lost an average of 36.6 lbs (16.8%), with no plateau in weight loss observed throughout the trial duration.
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