Opening Day: Obesity drug developer BioAge makes Nasdaq debut

Shares of BioAge Labs opened for trading this week, with the company planning to use the proceeds of its initial public offering to take its lead obesity drug further into clinical trials.

LATEST IPOS AND DIRECT LISTINGS:

BioAge (BIOA) opened on September 26 at $22.50. The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutic product candidates for metabolic diseases, such as obesity, by targeting the biology of aging, had priced its upsized initial public offering of 11M shares at a public offering price of $18.00 per share.

Innovation Beverage Group (IBG) opened on September 26 at $3. The company had priced 1.35M shares at $4.00. The deal size was reduced to 1.35M shares from 1.40M. Innovation Beverage is a developer, manufacturer, marketer, exporter and retailer of a growing beverage portfolio of 60 formulations across 13 alcoholic and non-alcoholic brands with a focus on premium and super premium brands whose products are sold in both the United States and Australian markets.

BKV Corp. (BKV) opened on September 26 at $18.55. The company had priced 15M shares at $18.00. The deal priced below the $19.00-$21.00 target range. BKV is a Denver-based Barnett Shale natural-gas producer.

Guardian Pharmacy (GRDN) opened on September 26 at $14.46. The company had priced its upsized initial public offering of 8M shares of Class A common stock at a public offering price of $14.00 per share. Guardian is a long-term care pharmacy services company that provides a suite of technology-enabled services designed to help residents of long-term health care facilities, or “LTCFs,” adhere to their appropriate drug regimen. As of June 30, 2024, its 50 pharmacies served approximately 174,000 residents in approximately 6,700 LTCFs across 36 states.

Legacy Education (LGCY) opened on September 26 at $4. The for-profit post-secondary education company offering a range of education programs and services to help students achieve their professional goals, priced its initial public offering of 2.5M shares of common stock at a price to the public of $4.00 per share.

Global Engine (GLE) opened on September 20 at $5.15. The Hong Kong-headquartered integrated solutions provider in information communication technologies had priced its initial public offering of 2M shares at a public offering price of $4.00 per share.

RECENT SPAC IPOS:

Cayson Acquisition (CAPN) opened on September 20 at $10. The blank check company intends to focus its search for a target business on entities located throughout Asia, but says it “will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic location.”

YHN Acquisition I (YHNA) opened on September 18 at $10.01. The blank check company said its efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic location.

END OF THE WEEK PERFORMANCE:

• BioAge – $21;
• Innovation Beverage Group – $2.53;
• BKV Corp. – $18.05;
• Guardian Pharmacy – $17.75;
• Legacy Education – $4.39;
• Global Engine – $4.55.

RECENT IPOS TO WATCH: Pheton Holdings (PTHL) and Powell Max (PMAX) are among stocks that could see new coverage roll out this upcoming week as the quiet periods for banks that underwrote the companies’ IPOs expire.

UPCOMING IPOS: Upcoming IPO and direct listings expected include BingEx (FLX), Upstream Bio (UPB), Basel Medical Group (BMGL), Megan Holdings (MGN), Health In Tech (HIT), Leizig Thermal Management (LZIG) and ShipBob.

Click here to see upcoming IPO calendar on TipRanks.

BingEx Limited filed for an initial public offering of American depositary shares, or ADSs, via which it will be offering 4M ADSs to be sold in the offering. Each ADS represents three of its Class A ordinary shares. The company anticipates that the initial public offering price will be between $15.00 and $17.00 per ADS. The prospectus filed with the SEC states, “We are the largest independent on-demand dedicated courier service provider in China as measured by revenue in 2023, according to iResearch. Since the inception of our commercial operation in 2014, our business has flourished with individual and business customers embracing the on-demand dedicated courier industry. As of June 30, 2024, we had approximately 2.7 million registered riders, and had expanded our services coverage to 295 cities in China. In 2023, our market share of the independent on-demand dedicated courier service in China was approximately 33.9%, according to iResearch.”

Upstream Bio has filed for an initial public offering of shares of its common stock. The prospectus filed with the SEC stated that, “We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing treatments for inflammatory diseases, with an initial focus on severe respiratory disorders. We are developing verekitug, the only known antagonist currently in clinical development that targets the receptor for Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin, or ‘TSLP,’ a cytokine which is a clinically validated driver of inflammatory response positioned upstream of multiple signaling cascades that affect a variety of immune mediated diseases. Preclinical and clinical data to date demonstrate verekitug’s highly potent inhibition of the TSLP receptor, which we believe will translate to a differentiated product profile, including improved clinical outcomes, substantially extended dosing intervals and the potential to treat a broad spectrum of patients. We have advanced this highly potent monoclonal antibody into separate Phase 2 trials for the treatment of severe asthma and chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps and plan to initiate development in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or ‘COPD’… Verekitug is, to our knowledge, the only monoclonal antibody currently in clinical development that targets and inhibits the TSLP receptor.”

Basel Medical Group filed for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq under the symbol “BMGL.” Cathay Securities is serving as the underwriter on the deal. Basel is a healthcare provider across Singapore and Southeast Asia.

Megan Holdings filed with the SEC for an initial public offering of 1.25M ordinary shares of Megan Holdings Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company, which is being conducted on a firm commitment basis. “We expect that the offering price of our Ordinary Shares in this offering will be between US$4.00 and US$6.00 per share. Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our Ordinary Shares. We have applied to list our Ordinary Shares on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol ‘MGN’,” the filing stated.

Health In Tech has filed with the SEC for a firm commitment initial public offering of shares of Class A Common Stock and anticipates that the initial public offering price of its shares will be between $4.00 and $5.00 per share. Its prospectus states: “Health in Tech is an insurance technology platform company, which offers a marketplace that aims to improve processes in the healthcare industry through vertical integration, process simplification, and automation. By removing friction and complexities, we streamline the underwriting, sales and service process for insurance companies, licensed brokers, and TPAs.”

Leizig Thermal Management has filed for an initial public offering, on a firm commitment basis, of 1,875,000 ordinary shares based on an assumed public offering price of $5.00, the mid-point of the range expected. Based in the People’s Republic of China, Leizig is a manufacturer of enclosure climate controls, with a focus on industrial cabinet ventilation, refrigeration, dehumidification, heat exchange, heating, lighting and environmental monitors. Moonger is mainly engaged in software development and providing software and information technology services, and it holds equity interest in the company’s PRC subsidiaries. GZ Boring Ape focuses on software development.

MNTN, the connected TV advertising platform operator whose Chief Creative Officer is Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds, has selected Morgan Stanley (MS) to work on an initial public offering and is considering going public as soon as in early 2025, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg‘s Bailey Lipschultz and Gillian Tan. MNTN, which acquired Reynolds’ creative agency Maximum Effort in 2021, raised $119M in a Series D financing round in 2021 co-led by funds and accounts managed by BlackRock (BLK) and Fidelity Management, which together invested about $110M, the report noted.

ShipBob has selected JPMorgan (JPM) to lead its planned listing, Bloomberg’s Amy Or, Gillian Tan, and Ryan Gould report, citing people familiar with the situation. The Chicago-based ecommerce fulfillment service provider has also chosen Citigorup (C) as part of the syndicate, the authors say. An initial public offering could occur as soon as later this year and could value the company at $4B, the authors note.

Opening Day” is The Fly’s recurring series of stories on the latest initial public offerings, their performance, and upcoming IPOs.