Healthcare IPOs For July 10

(RTTNews) - It's already a week into the third quarter.  The number of U.S. healthcare sector initial public offerings in the first half of 2020 is 34 compared to 41 in the same period last year.

Let's take a look at the biotech companies that are going public on Friday (July 10).

1. Nkarta Inc.

South San Francisco, California-based Nkarta Inc. is scheduled to go public on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "NKTX" on July 10, 2020.

Founded in 2015, Nkarta is a biopharmaceutical company developing allogeneic, off-the-shelf engineered natural killer, or NK, cell therapies to treat cancers.

The IPO is expected to be priced between $14.00 and $16.00 per share.

The company has offered to sell 10.0 million shares of common stock in the offering, and the underwriters have an option for 30 days to purchase up to 1.5 million additional shares.

Underwriters of the IPO:

Cowen and Company, LLC, Evercore Group L.L.C, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc, Mizuho Securities USA LLC.

Pipeline and Near-term Catalysts:

The company has two co-lead product candidates NKX101 and NKX019.

-- NKX101, being developed for the treatment of relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), for which the IND was accepted by the FDA in July 2020.The company expects to begin dosing the first patient in Phase 1 safety trials by fourth quarter of 2020.

-- NKX019 for the treatment of variety of B cell malignancies is in pre-clinical development. An IND seeking clearance to initiate a clinical trial of NKX019 is expected to be filed in the first quarter of 2021.

-- CAR-NK product candidate that targets a tumor antigen found on certain solid tumor cells as well as blood cancers. Submission of IND for this compound is expected in the first quarter of 2022.

-- NK+T program, an allogeneic, off-the-shelf product candidate that will combine engineered NK cells with engineered T cells to treat a variety of cancers.

2. Inventiva SA

Daix, France-based Inventiva SA is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing oral small molecule therapies for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, mucopolysaccharidoses, or MPS, and other diseases.

The company, which is currently listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange, is scheduled to list its ADSs on Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "IVA." on July 10, 2020.

Inventiva has offered to sell 7.48 million American Depositary Shares, or ADSs, at an expected price of $13.68 per share. The company has also planned European offering concurrent with the IPO. The underwriters have 30 days option to purchase additional ordinary shares and ADSs.

Underwriters of the IPO:

Jefferies LLC, Stifel, Nicolaus & Co, Inc, Guggenheim Securities, LLC, Jefferies International Ltd, Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited, H.C. Wainwright & Co., Roth Capital Partners and KBC Securities.

Pipeline:

-- The lead product candidate is Lanifibranor for the treatment of patients with NASH. The company reported positive topline results from its phase IIb clinical trial of Lanifibranor in patients with NASH, dubbed NATIVE, in June 2020.

-- The second clinical-stage drug candidate is Odiparcil for the treatment of patients with MPS. The company announced positive results from a phase IIa clinical trial of Odiparcil for the treatment of adult patients with the MPS VI subtype in December 2019. Odiparcil is designated an orphan drug by the FDA and EMA and also carries the FDA's rare pediatric disease designation tag for the treatment of MPS VI.

Near-term Catalysts:

--An end of phase IIb meetings with the FDA and scientific advice meetings with the EMA, related to Lanifibranor for the treatment of NASH, are expected to take place in the fourth quarter of 2020, after which the compound will be moved into pivotal development.

-- Initiation of phase Ib/II clinical trial of Odiparcil in children with MPS VI is expected in the first half of 2021. If the results from this trial are positive, the company plans to initiate phase III clinical development of Odiparcil as a monotherapy and in combination with ERT for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with MPS VI.

-- Additionally, an open-label Phase IIa extension study to investigate the long-term safety and efficacy of Odiparcil in patients 16 years and above with MPS VI who completed the prior phase IIa trial is expected to begin in the first half of 2021.

3. Poseida Therapeutics

San Diego, California-based Poseida Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing cell and gene therapies to treat a range of cancers.

The company is scheduled to make its debut on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "PSTX" on July 10, 2020.

Poseida Therapeutics has offered to sell 10.0 million shares of common stock in the offering, and the underwriters have an option for 30 days to purchase up to 1.5 million additional shares.

The initial public offering price is expected to be between $14.00 and $16.00 per share.

Underwriters of the IPO:

BofA Securities, Inc., Piper Sandler & Co. and William Blair & Company, L.L.C

Pipeline:

-- The lead product candidate is P-BCMA-101, an autologous CAR-T therapy being developed to treat patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, under a potentially registrational phase II trial and expanded phase I clinical trial.

-- P-PSMA-101, for the treatment of patients with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer, under a phase I trial.

-- P-BCMA-ALLO1, for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, under IND-enabling studies.

-- P-MUC1C-ALLO1, for multiple solid tumors, under IND-enabling studies.

-- The products under preclinical testing include P-PSMA-ALLO1 for metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer, Dual CD19/CD20 for B cell malignancies and potentially some autoimmune diseases, Dual BCMA/CD19 for multiple myeloma, an undisclosed Dual CAR for solid tumors, P-OTC-101 for the in vivo treatment of ornithine transcarbamylase, or OTC, deficiency, and P-MMUT-101 for the treatment of methylmalonic acidemia, or MMA.

Near-term Catalysts:

-- Data from phase I expanded trail and phase II trial of is P-BCMA-101 in multiple myeloma are expected this year.

-- An update on the phase I trial of P-PSMA-101 for the treatment of patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer is expected in late 2020 or early 2021.

-- IND filing for P-BCMA-ALLO1 for treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma is expected in late 2020 or early 2021.

-- Filing of INDs and initiation of phase I clinical trials for Dual CD19/CD20, Dual BCMA/CD19, and an undisclosed Dual CAR is expected in late 2021 and 2022.

-- IND filing and initiation of phase I clinical trial for P-OTC-101 is planned for late 2021 or early 2022.

-- IND filing and initiation of phase I clinical trial for P-MMUT-101 is expected in 2022.