Finance Watch: Gossamer, Alector And Harpoon Launch First Biopharma IPOs Of 2019

Public Company Edition: Grossing $276m, Gossamer would have been the third-largest biopharma IPO in the US if it had launched last year. Also, recent public company financings include debt and follow-on offerings; and two more firms cut jobs – Capricor and Seres.

Finance Watch

With the US government reopened, the traditional path to an initial public offering is as well and biopharmaceutical companies are racing down that road as fast as they can in case the temporary end to the shutdown isn't extended by ongoing budget negotiations.

Gossamer Bio Inc. initiated an infrequently used route to an IPO while the government shutdown meant the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) couldn't process new offerings, but returned to the regular road to an IPO – pricing its offering on Feb. 7 – after the SEC reopened. (Also see "Finance Watch: Gossamer Works Around The Shutdown To Price Its $230m IPO" - Scrip, 26 January, 2019.) Alector Inc

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