BioAge Labs, Inc. is the latest among the healthcare companies pursuing stock-market listing this year. In a registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company revealed plans to offer around 7.5 million common shares in an initial public offering. The estimated offer price is between $17.0 per share and $19.0 per share.
The company has applied to list on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol BIOA. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, and Citigroup are the bookrunners in the offering. The estimated net proceeds from this offering and the concurrent private placement are expected to be around $134.5 million, based on the midpoint of the price range.
The BioAge leadership plans to use the proceeds mainly to advance the development of azelaprag, the lead product candidate being developed for the treatment of obesity. A part of the proceeds will be used for working capital and other general corporate purposes.
The Company
BioAge is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of therapeutic product candidates for metabolic diseases like obesity, by targeting the biology of human aging. In preclinical tests, azelaprag demonstrated the ability to more than double the weight loss induced by a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist. It also restored healthy body composition and improved muscle function.
Currently, the company is developing a pipeline of platform-derived therapeutics for the treatment of chronic metabolic disease. Azelaprag is an orally available small-molecule agonist of the apelin receptor where the activation has the potential to recapitulate many of the benefits of exercise. The drug is being developed in combination with GLP-1R agonists to augment overall weight loss, with the potential to also improve tolerability and body composition.
Key Numbers
For the year ended December 2023, BioAge reported a comprehensive loss of $63.9 million, compared to a loss of $39.5 million in the previous year. Full-year research and development expenses increased 11% year-over-year to $33.9 million. In the six months ended June 30, 2024, loss narrowed modestly to $26.6 million from $28.2 million in the corresponding period of 2023. At $19.8 million, research and development expenses were up 15% year-over-year during the six months.