Woodland Hills based Acelyrn Inc.which develops immunological drugs, raised at least $540 million in an IPO on the Nasdaq market on May 5
Acelyrin, which trades under the symbol SLRN, offered 30 million shares at $18 per share. At the close on May 5, the share price was up 30% to close at $23.50.
Acelyrin was founded in late 2020 as a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing immunological therapies. But unlike many other immunology companies, whose founders develop specific drug platforms in the lab and then attempt to commercialize them, Acelyrin has primarily focused on acquiring promising drug platforms and taking them through the final stages of development and clinical trials.
In the words of the founder and CEO of Acelyrin Shao Lee LinAcelyrin’s mission is “to identify, source and accelerate the development and delivery of therapies with the potential to provide patients with clinically meaningful, differentiated benefits based on the science of the targets or properties of the molecules.”
The company quickly amassed a massive war chest, raising $558 million in just 21 months, including $300 million in a Series C funding round that closed in September.
As an example of its strategy, Acelyrin acquired Bethesda, a Maryland-based immunotherapy company, in January ValenzaBio Inc.; The financial terms of this deal were not disclosed. ValenzaBio has one drug in an early-stage study for the treatment of thyroid eye disease and another drug in pre-clinical testing for the treatment of cchronic urticaria, a skin allergy that can serve as an indicator of other internal diseases.
At the time, Lin said of the acquisition, “We will continue to seek additional ‘diamond in the rough’ opportunities as we pursue the acquisition, development and delivery of transformative medicines to patients.”
Most of the $540 million raised in the IPO will go towards this acquisition and drug development strategy.
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