More than a half-dozen hedge funds are gearing up for the next initial public offering of a fledgling biopharma company.
The deal comes in the wake of two biopharma IPOs in June: One company was up double digits after the offering, with the other down double-digits.
Artiva Biotherapeutics said in an updated regulatory filing it expects to sell 8.7 million shares for between $14 and $16 per share. At the high end of the anticipated price range, the company expects to raise as much as $139 million.
At least one hedge fund firm is a major shareholder, according to regulatory filings. RA Capital Healthcare Fund holds 15 percent of the shares of the clinical-stage biotech company, which develops therapies for autoimmune diseases and cancers. RA Capital anticipates owning 8.1 percent of the total after the IPO. Laura Stoppel, a principal at the hedge fund, has been a member of the board of directors since June 2020.
Half a dozen other prominent hedge funds are likely shareholders of Artiva as well.
Investors in a $120 million Series B financing in 2021 included RA Capital, which had participated in an earlier funding round, as well as new investors like hedge funds Acuta Capital Partners, Cormorant Asset Management, EcoR1 Capital, Logos Capital, RTW Investments, and Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company).
The backdrop to the upcoming Artiva deal is the post-IPO performance of both Alumis and Rapport.
Shares of Alumis, a clinical-stage company developing therapies for immune-mediated diseases, are down about 32 percent since the company went public on June 27. Before the offering, organizations affiliated with hedge fund firm Baker Brothers Life Sciences owned nearly 7.2 million shares.
Four months ago, Alumis completed its most recent private fundraise when it announced an upsized $259 million Series C financing co-led by existing investor Foresite Capital and new investors Samsara BioCapital and venBio Partners. The financing included a number of new investors, including Cormorant.
In contrast, Rapport Therapeutics, which went public on June 6, is up about 44 percent. Before the IPO, entities affiliated with Cormorant owned 6.62 percent of the shares, according to a regulatory filing. Several other hedge funds presumably held smaller stakes. In August 2023, Cormorant led a $150 million Series B funding that included Logos Capital, Perceptive Advisors, and Surveyor Capital.