The IPO Buzz: Cancer Biotech Bicara Therapeutics (BCAX Proposed) Sets Terms & Launches $200 Million IPO

Cancer biotech Bicara Therapeutics (BCAX Proposed) disclosed the terms for its $200 million IPO early today – Friday, Sept. 6, 2024 – and launched the deal for a NASDAQ debut next week. The biotech, which is targeting head and neck squamous cell cancer, is offering 11.765 million shares at a price range of $16.00 to $18.00 to raise $200.01 million, if priced at the $17.00 mid-point. The market cap would be $782.44 million, if Bicara Therapeutics’ IPO is priced at the $17.00 mid-point.  Morgan Stanley, TD Cowen, Cantor and Stifel are the joint book-runners. Bicara Therapeutics’ IPO is scheduled for pricing Thursday night, Sept. 12, 2024, to trade Friday, Sept. 13, on the NASDAQ. Bicara Therapeutics, based in Boston, is evaluating its leading drug candidate, ficerafusp alfa, a bifunctional antibody to target solid tumors, in a Phase 1/1b clinical trial in the U.S. to treat patients with head and neck squamous cell cancer. The cancer biotech said it plans to start a Phase 2/3 trial late in the fourth quarter of 2024 or early in the first quarter of 2025 to evaluate ficerafusp alfa in combination with pembrolizumab as a first-line therapy in recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell cancer, excluding patients associated with HPV infection or HPV-positive patients, with oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer, according to the prospectus. The company says it believes that ficerafusp alfa has “the potential to provide meaningful clinical benefit in other solid tumors where there is a strong biologic rationale for the dual inhibition of both EGFR and TGF-b, such as colorectal cancer and other squamous cell carcinomas which typically overexpress EGFR and TGF-b pathways. We have demonstrated preliminary activity of ficerafusp alfa in combination with pembrolizumab or as a monotherapy across several squamous cell carcinomas, including cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, or CSCC. Within our Phase 1/1b dose expansion cohorts conducted in the U.S. and Canada, we have observed to date a preliminary 42 percent (5/12) ORR (overall response rate) with ficerafusp alfa monotherapy in relapsed and/or refractory CSCC patients.” Bicara Therapeutics, like most clinical biotechs at the time they file to go public, has a history of net losses and no product revenue. For the 12 months that ended June 30, 2024, Bicara Therapeutics reported a net loss of $64.9 million on no product revenue. (For more information about these companies, please check the IPO Calendar and the individual IPO Profiles found on IPOScoop.com’s website.) Note: Never trade on proposed symbols. They have been known to change and you might buy something on the OTC Bulletin Board. To see what time the NASDAQ IPOs are expected to trade, please log in to: NASDAQTrader.com then scroll down to IPO Message. 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.