South San Francisco-based biotech firm Lycia Therapeutics (LYCA) has successfully upsized and priced its initial public offering at $18.00 per share, hitting the top of its marketed $16.00 to $18.00 range. The company increased its offering to 17.64 million shares—up from the 14.7 million shares initially planned—to raise approximately $317.52 million. Trading under the ticker symbol LYCA, the stock is slated to debut on the NASDAQ, giving the Phase 1 clinical-stage company an initial market capitalization of roughly $990.62 million.
Founded on the scientific work of Nobel laureate Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi, Lycia specializes in developing targeted therapeutics for autoimmune, inflammatory, and allergic diseases. The company utilizes its proprietary Lysosomal Targeting Chimera (LYTAC) platform to address extracellular targets, with a current pipeline that includes Phase 1 trials for food allergies and Graves’ disease. Joint book-runners for the transaction included Jefferies, TD Cowen, Evercore ISI, and Guggenheim Securities, with the offering’s proceeds primarily earmarked to fund ongoing clinical trials.