The Burrill Report


The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech Acceleron Pharma sold 5.6 million shares at $15 per share. It had originally proposed to sell 4.7 million shares at a target price of $13 to $15 per share. The biotech also sold shares worth $10 million to its partner Celgene in a concurrent private placement. Celgene owned 12.3 percent of the company’s shares pre-IPO.

So far this year, 34 life sciences companies have completed IPOs on U.S. exchanges, making 2013 the biggest year for IPOs since 2000. Almost three quarters of the life sciences companies that have completed IPOs develop therapeutics. Collectively they have raised $1.9 billion so far this year, not including the $2.6 billion raised by animal health company Zoetis. As of the end of August, the U.S. IPO class of 2013 was collectively up 35 percent.

Founded in 2004, Acceleron develops protein therapeutics for rare diseases and cancer. The biotech’s platform is focused on developing drugs that regulate the transforming growth factor beta family of proteins, which are key regulators in the growth and repair of cells and tissues such as red blood cells, bones, and blood vessels. Its two lead experimental candidates, sotatercept and ACE-536, are being co-developed with Celgene for the treatment of ß-Thalassemia and myelodysplastic syndromes. Acceleron is is eligible for more than $500 million in milestone payments, plus royalties on worldwide sales should either product gain approval.

Acceleron’s shares soared as high as $20.80 in its day of trading on the Nasdaq. The company trades under the symbol XLRN.



September 19, 2013
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-acceleron_prices_upsized_ipo_at_top_of_range.html