The IPO Buzz: Biotechs Bicara Therapeutics (BCAX) & Zenas BioPharma (ZBIO) On the Front Burner

Two biotechs – Bicara Therapeutics (BCAX Proposed) and Zenas BioPharma (ZBIO Proposed) – lead the IPO Calendar this week – the week of Sept. 9, 2024 – with plans to raise about $200 million each. Both IPOs are similar in size: Each company plans to offer about 11.8 million shares at a price range of $16.00 to $18.00. Both are NASDAQ listings. Morgan Stanley is leading the joint book-runners’ team for each IPO. Five small IPOs round out the rest of this week’s IPO Calendar with plans to raise a total of $48.5 million.

If all seven deals on this week’s IPO Calendar get priced, bankers expect to raise a total of about $448.5 million.

Let’s take a quick look at the two big biotech IPOs on tap this week.

Cancer Biotech Bicara Therapeutics

Head and neck squamous cell cancer is  the focus of  Bicara Therapeutics (BCAX Proposed), which is offering 11.77 million shares at a price range of $16.00 to $18.00 to raise $200.1 million. The market cap would be $782.44 million, if the IPO is priced at the $17.00 mid-point of its range.

Morgan Stanley, TD  Cowen, Cantor and Stifel are the joint book-runners.

Bicara Therapeutics, based in Boston, says its ongoing Phase 1/1b trial of its leading drug candidate, ficerafusp alfa, in combination with pembrolizumab in head and neck squamous cell cancer patients in the U.S. achieved a 54 percent overall response rate (ORR) – and in  patients not associated with HPV, the ORR was 64 percent, according to the prospectus.

The cancer biotech plans to launch a Phase 2/Phase 3 clinical trial of its leading drug candidate, ficerafusp alfa, in combination with pembrolizumab (the generic name for Merck’s cancer drug Keytruda) to treat recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell cancer. Bicara Therapeutics expects to start the Phase 2/Phase 3 clinical trial either late in the fourth quarter or in the first quarter of 2025, the prospectus said.

Bicara Therapeutics – like most biotechs when they go public – is not profitable. The company reported a net loss of $64.9 million on no product revenue for the 12 months that ended June 30, 2024.

Autoimmune Biotech Zenas BioPharma

Autoimmune diseases – including MS (multiple sclerosis) and SLE (systemic lupus erythematosus) – are the focus of biotech Zenas BioPharma (ZBIO Proposed), which is offering 11.76 million shares at a price range of $16.00 to $18.00 to raise $199.92 million, if priced at the $17.00 mid-point. The market cap would be $651.39 million, assuming pricing at the $17.00 mid-point of its range.

Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, Citigroup and Guggenheim Securities are the joint book-runners.

Zenas BioPharma, based in the Boston suburb of Waltham, Massachusetts, is developing obexelimab, its leading drug candidate, as follows:

*A Phase 3 trial to treat patients with immunoglobulin G4-related disease (“IgG4-RD”)

*Planned Phase 2 trials – expected to start in the third quarter of 2024 – to treat patients with MS (multiple sclerosis) and systemic lupus erythematosus (“SLE”)

*An ongoing Phase 2/3 trial – currently in the Phase 2 open label portion – to treat patients with warn autoimmune hemolytic anemia (“wAIHA”)

Zenas BioPharma is not profitable, which is typical for a biotech. But it stands out from the crowd because it does have collaboration revenue. For the year that ended Dec. 31, 2023, Zenas BioPharma reported a net loss of $37.12 million on collaboration revenue of $50.0 million, according to the prospectus.

Small Deals On Tap

Two tiny IPOs on this week’s IPO roster are carry-overs from last week:

– Cuprina Holdings (Cayman) Ltd. (CUPR Proposed), a Singapore-based chronic wound care products company based in Singapore, aims to raise $15.9 million. Network 1 Financial Securities is the sole book-runner.

–  Trident Digital Tech Holdings (TDTH Proposed), a Singapore-based digital transformation company that serves small to medium enterprises (SMEs), intends to raise $10.8 million. WallachBeth Capital is the sole book-runner. Revere Securities is the co-manager.

Three other small IPOs are also on the IPO Calendar this week: Galaxy Payroll Group Ltd. (GLXG Proposed), a Hong Kong-based provider of outsourced payroll services, intends to raise $8.0 million; R.F. Lafferty & Co. is the sole book-runner; Kairos Pharma (KAPA Proposed), a Los Angeles-based cancer biotech, aims to raise $6.3 million; Boustead Securities and EF Hutton are the joint book-runners, and Flewber Global (FLAI Proposed), intends to raise $7.5 million; EF Hutton is the sole book-runner.

For pricing dates, please see the IPO Calendar.

(For more information about these companies, please check the IPO Calendar and the individual IPO Profiles found on IPOScoop.com’s website.)

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Disclosure: Nobody on the IPOScoop.com staff has a position in any stocks mentioned above, nor do they trade or invest in IPOs. The IPOScoop.com staff does not issue advice, recommendations or opinions.

Disclaimer: A SCOOP Rating (Wall Street Consensus of Opening-day Premiums) is a general consensus taken, at press time, from Wall Street and investment professionals concerning how well an IPO might perform when it starts trading. The SCOOP Rating does not reflect the opinions or anyone associated with IPOScoop.com. The SCOOP ratings should not be taken as investment advice. The rating merely reflects the opinion of the professionals at the time of publication and is subject to last-minute changes due to market conditions, changes in a specific offering and other factors, such as changes in the proposed offering terms and the shifting of investor interest in the IPO. The information offered is taken from sources we believe to be reliable, but we cannot guarantee the accuracy.