-=Kura Oncology (KURA) :

Rises to its highest levels since December on above 9x average volume, posting gains alongside its peer in the cancer treatments development space, Syndax Pharmaceuticals (SNDX); co's pipeline includes a menin-MLL inhibitor, KO-539.

• Sector: Healthcare
• Industry: Biotechnology
• Full Time Employees: 57
• Founded in 2014 
• HQ inSan Diego, California
• http://www.kuraoncology.com

Bitcoin mining chip producer Ebang files for $100 million IPO

China-based Ebang Holdings has filed a $100 million IPO prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), becoming the third Bitcoin mining equipment maker after Bitmain and Canaan to attempt a public offering.

Bitcoin miner to public firm
Ebang states IPO returns will majorly serve towards product diversification, company expansion, and collateral for credit facilities with investment banks. No dividend payouts shall be offered to investors, at least shortly. Apart from its blockchain business, the firm has created a telecommunications division which accounts for a paltry 3 percent of annual revenue.

As per documents, the firm recorded revenues of $100 million in 2019, a 63 percent drop from the reported $319 million in 2018. The firm lost $30 million in 2019, compared to a profit of $24 million in 2018. Based on these financials, it’s difficult to foresee a post-IPO increase in share prices.

Ebang leads Bitcoin miner production ahead of rivals Bitmain and Canaan, as per a Frost and Sullivan report quoted on the filing. The firm sells ten miners varied by computing specifics, with the cheapest priced at $300 and the priciest — promising a 44 TH/s output – at $1930.

The miner noted Chinese businesses dominate the mining space. A massive 96 percent of annual revenue and 94 percent of computing power is supplied by Chinese or China-registered companies.

The filing is Ebang’s second attempt at an IPO. In June 2018, the firm looked to raise a mammoth $1 billion as per a draft submitted to the Hong Kong Exchange. However, the filing never materialized and remains in limbo to this day.

Aptevo Therapeutics (APVO) : 4-year performance

-=Syndax Pharmaceuticals (SNDX) : initial data for SNDX-5613

• Announced positive early-stage data on candidate SNDX-5613, a small molecule inhibitor designed to block the interaction between a tumor suppressor protein called menin and another protein called MLL that plays a key role in the development of acute leukemia. 
• Kura also has a menin-MLL inhibitor in development, KO-539, currently in Phase 1/2 development.
• Price target raised to $33 from $27 at Baird. 
• Surged to all-time highs.

Syndax Pharmaceuticals presents preclinical and initial data for SNDX-5613 in adults with relapsed/refractory acute leukemias 

Syndax Pharmaceuticals today presents preclinical and initial clinical data for SNDX-5613, the company's potent, highly selective oral menin inhibitor. The oral presentation will be featured during the New Drugs on the Horizon session at the 2020 AACR Virtual Annual Meeting I.

• As of the April 17 data cutoff date, a total of six patients have been treated in the Phase 1 portion of the ongoing open-label AUGMENT-101 trial at increasing dose levels of SNDX-5613. Responses were observed in two of three patients harboring an MLL rearrangement. This included one patient, whose drug exposure was consistent with that needed for activity in preclinical models, who had a complete response with incomplete blood count recovery (CRi) after 28 days of therapy and subsequently improved to a complete response (CR). The second patient achieved a partial response with incomplete blood count recovery (PRi) after 28 days of therapy. Both patients continue to receive SNDX-5613. A third patient harboring an MLL rearrangement did not achieve drug exposure levels consistent with that needed for activity in preclinical models and was removed from the trial due to progressive disease.
• Treatment with SNDX-5613 has been tolerated well, with no dose limiting toxicities reported. One patient experienced a Grade 2 QTc prolongation but remains on treatment.

The company also announced today that SNDX-5613 was recently granted Orphan Drug Designation for the treatment of adult and pediatric acute myeloid leukemia by the FDA.

IPOs this week : April 27 - May 1, 20 (wk 18)

IPO quiet period expirations

• WiMi Hologram Cloud (NASDAQ:WIMI) on April 27 and 
• Zentalis Pharma (NASDAQ:ZNTL) on April 28. IPO share 

IPO lockup expirations

• Oyster Point (NASDAQ:OYST) and RAPT Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RAPT) on April 28. 

Amid the lack of new IPOs, the Renaissance IPO ETF (NYSEARCA:IPO) is still chugging along and is down only 3% YTD compared to a 12% decline in the S&P 500. Top performers for the ETF include Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), Zoom Video (NASDAQ:ZM) and Chewy (NYSE:CHWY).

IPOs this week : April 20 - 24, 20 (wk 17)

IPOs expected to price

• China Liberal Education (CLEU) is due to price on April 23. 

IPO lockup expirations

• BRP Group (NASDAQ:BRP) on April 21
• Phathom Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:PHAT), Progyny (NASDAQ:PGNY), Youdao (NYSE:DAO), Cabaletta Bio (NASDAQ:CABA ), Aesthetic Medical International Holdings Group (NASDAQ:AIH), TFF Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TFFP) and Happiness Biotech Group (NASDAQ:HAPP) on April 22. 

The stay-at-home order has disrupted the plans of several companies involved with sports and fitness. Topgolf International (Callaway Golf (NYSE:ELY) holds a stake), F45 Training and Xponential Fitness are all on the IPO sidelines.

Eros International (EROS) to merge with STX Entertainment

•  Indian movie producer Eros International Plc is merging with privately-held U.S. filmmaker STX Entertainment in an all-stock deal that brings together Bollywood and Hollywood. 

Bollywood Meets Hollywood With Marriage of Eros and STX
(Bloomberg) -- Indian movie producer Eros International Plc is merging with privately-held U.S. filmmaker STX Entertainment in an all-stock deal that brings together Bollywood and Hollywood.

The combined company, to be known as Eros STX Global Corp., will be publicly traded and have a valuation of more than $1 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the details, who asked not to be identified as the matter is private. Eros’s New York-listed stock jumped as much as 77%, and closed a $3.05 in New York.

It’s a rare deal in a mergers and acquisitions market that’s all but seized up as executives and investors grapple with the fallout from the pandemic.

Although discussions began six months ago, final terms were hammered out in recent weeks over conference calls, with part of the Eros deal team dialing in from India. The transaction was signed virtually by an exchange of signature pages between lawyers, the people said. Eros founder Kishore Lulla said his long-standing relationship and trust in his STX counterpart Robert Simonds, for whom his daughter was once an intern, was key to getting a deal completed under unusual circumstances.

Ultimately, the pandemic underscored the importance of the deal.

“I was always a believer that technology is going to change the studio model and everything is going to shift to digital,” said Lulla, who will be co-chairman alongside Simonds. “Covid escalated that digital model.”

In the last four to six weeks, the amount of time users spend on the platform jumped between 50% and 200%, Lulla said.

Bigger Footprint

But both companies have had their struggles over the years, and it’s too early to tell how much the combination will resolve them. STX has failed to find much of a winning formula at the box office, with modest recent performers like “Brahms: The Boy 2” and “The Gentlemen.” Eros, meanwhile, has become the target of short sellers who published reports on accounting irregularities. When the company posted a surge in revenue from the UAE in 2015, it was vague about the reasons, rankling investors.

Joining forces will give the two independent companies more heft to compete with bigger studios as trends sweeping Hollywood have made it hard for smaller players to gain scale. Between Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures, the combination of Walt Disney Co. and Fox Corp.’s film companies, and AT&T Inc.’s acquisition of Time Warner Inc., a trio of studios now own and produce many of the most well-known blockbuster movie franchises, including the Marvel superhero universe and DC Comics. The result is a small group of big films increasingly dominating the box office.

The deal will give the company a bigger geographical footprint.

“My personal dream was always to be an important premium content provider globally in the markets that actually matter -- US, India and China -- and this combination is all three of those,” said Simonds, who will become chief executive officer of the company.

STX films include comedian Amy Schumer’s “I Feel Pretty” and Jennifer Lopez’s “Hustlers”. The combined company expects to release 40 feature-length films this year, as well as content for services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon.

The combined company will have $600 million in pro forma revenue for 2019 and $300 million of “highly predictable” future revenue from STX films that have already been released. There will be about $50 million in operating synergies.

The company will be domiciled in the Isle of Man with joint headquarters in Maharashtra, India and Burbank, California.

The deal comes less than two years after STX, which is backed by internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd., shelved its IPO plans.

STX’s backers TPG, Hony Capital and Liberty Global will provide some equity for the deal. The company will also have a $350 million credit facility led by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Citigroup advised Eros on the deal, while Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher provided legal advice. STX was advised by PJT Partners, with Kirkland & Ellis its legal adviser.

CHWY : 9-month performance

 

 

 

IPOs this week : April 13 - 17, 20 (wk 16)

IPO lockup expirations

• Owl Rock Capital (NYSE:ORCC) is up 33% over the last week just ahead of the 270-day lockup period expiring for sales of blocks of two-thirds of positions. 
• Former Post Holdings (NYSE:POST) subsidiary BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR) has an IPO share lockup expiration date of April 15. Shares of BRBR trade 21% above where the IPO was priced. 

Upcoming IPOs
As the pandemic continues on, it appears more unlikely that some of the blockbuster IPOs expected this year will fire off. That list includes

• Cole Haan (CLHN), Airbnb (AIRB), Postmates (POSTM), Robinhood (HOOD), Snowflake (SNOW), DoorDash (DASH), Asana (ASAN) Instacart (CART), Wish, Palantir (PLTR), Rackspace [owned by Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO)], Didi Chuxing (DIDI), Topgolf [Callaway Golf (NYSE:ELY) has a stake], Stripe (STRIP), Madewell (MDWL) [a Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) retail partner] and McAfee [Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) has a stake].

Zentalis Pharmaceuticals (ZNTL) began trading on the Nasdaq on Fri 3 Apr 2020

Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, LLC, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering and developing small molecule therapeutics targeting fundamental biological pathways of cancers in the United States.

• Sector: Healthcare
• Industry: Biotechnology
• Full Time Employees: 
• Founded in 2014 
• HQ in New York, New York
• http://www.zentalis.com

Zentalis CEO Anthony Sun

Zentalis inked a clinical development deal with Pfizer in May 2018 to test the drug alongside the Big Pharma’s CDK4/6 inhibitor Ibrance (palbociclib). It expects to report data from a phase 1/2 study of ZN-c5 in combination with Ibrance, as well as a single agent, in 2020.

Its clinical pipeline also includes ZN-c3, which targets the WEE1 kinase to treat solid tumors, and an EGFR med for lung cancer. Zentalis plans to move its fourth program, a drug targeting BCL-2 in blood cancers, into the clinic by the middle of 2020, Sun told us last year. The preclinical pipeline comprises a pair of programs in blood cancers and solid tumors.

Keros Therapeutics (KROS) began trading on the Nasdaq on Wed 8 Apr 2020

Keros Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel treatments for patients suffering from hematological and musculoskeletal disorders with high unmet medical need.

• Sector: Healthcare
• Industry: Biotechnology
• Full Time Employees: 23
• Founded in 2015 
• Headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts.
• http://www.kerostx.com

Oncology biotech Keros Therapeutics priced its upsized IPO at the high end to raise $96 million at a $325 million fully diluted market cap (+12% vs. original midpoint). The company priced its IPO at a 19% premium to its last capital raise in March 2020, and it believes its cash balance of $149 million will last into the 2H22. Keros’ lead candidate, KER-050, is beginning a Phase 2 trial for anemia and thrombocytopenia associated with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). The company believes KER-050 will treat all stages of MDS, making it superior to current therapies. Keros finished the week up 35%.

The IPO Index jumped 11.3% this past week, compared to a 10.4% increase for the S&P 500. The Index's top performers were Levi Strauss (LEVI; +45% this week), Farfetch (FTCH; +42%), StoneCo (STNE; +41%), Allakos (ALLK; +40%), PPD (PPD; +38%), and Lyft (LYFT; +38%). The Vix Volatility Index settled to its lowest level in a month; if this trend continues, we could see IPO volume begin to normalize by summer.

The IPO provides Keros with $96 million to advance the development of its investigational drugs for patients with blood and musculoskeletal disorders. The drugs that Keros is developing target a family of proteins called TGF-beta, signaling pathways that regulate red blood cell and platelet production, and growth, repair, and maintenance of muscle and bone.

The company plans to use the IPO proceeds to advance its clinical-stage drug candidates into mid-stage trials. The funds will allow it to start two Phase 2 trials of KER-050, in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome and in patients with myelofibrosis. The funds will also support KER-047 through an ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial and into two Phase 2 clinical trials, one in patients with anemia resulting from high hepcidin levels, and one in patients with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, a rare disease in which skeletal muscle and connective tissue are gradually replaced by bone.

IPO Market Snapshot

The Renaissance IPO Indices are market cap weighted baskets of newly public companies. As of 4/8/20, the Renaissance IPO Index was down 14.2% year-to-date, while the S&P 500 was down 14.9%. Renaissance Capital's IPO ETF (NYSE: IPO) tracks the index, and top ETF holdings include Uber (UBER) and Spotify (SPOT). The Renaissance International IPO Index was down 9.9% year-to-date, while the ACWX was down 21.7%. Renaissance Capital’s International IPO ETF (NYSE: IPOS) tracks the index, and top ETF holdings include Meituan-Dianping and Adyen.The article US IPO Weekly Recap: Keros Therapeutics rises 35% as biotechs beat the IPO shutdown originally appeared on IPO investment manager Renaissance Capital's web site renaissancecapital.com.

IPOs this week : April 6 - 10, 20 (wk 15)

IPO lockup expirations

• BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX), 

• HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) and 

• Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR). 

IPO quiet period expirations
Analysts can also start covering Imara (NASDAQ:IMRA). The biotech stock closed at $15.81 on Friday after the IPO was priced at $16 per share.