Well December 2015 was the slowest month for IPO's since 2008 and one would have thought that it couldn't get any worse. Well, then I have bad news for you. With no IPO's coming to market in January it marks the first month of no IPO's since September 2011, over 51 months ago. But, with market volatility as high as it is, many IPO's are comfortable waiting out the storm for better markets. So, it's on to February where we have 4 IPO's on the schedule and they all are in the Bio-tech space. First up we have Editas Medicine (EDIT ) which announced terms for its IPO last week. According to their filing, Editas is developing gene editing therapies based on CRISPR technology. The Cambridge, MA-based company plans to raise $100 million by offering 5.9 million shares at a price range of $16 to $18. At $17, Editas Medicine would go to market with a value of $625 million. The company is young and has little sales. It was founded in 2013 and has only $1 million in sales for the 12 months ended September 30, 2015.
Next is BeiGene (BGNE ), which is the China based oncology biotech that is targeting the 20-25% of the world's cancer patients who reside in China. If approved, its lead drug, which, according to biotech analysts, is similar to Abbvie's (ABBV ) blockbuster ibrutinib (which is estimated to have over $1 billion in sales for 2015), will enjoy a 5-7 year advantage over non-Chinese competitors due to the accommodative domestic regulatory pathway.
There are also 2 similar, smaller biotech companies on the block for this week which are, delayed-release aspirin developer PLX Pharma (PLXP ) with an estimated $68 million deal, and enhanced generics developer Mapi-Pharma (MAPI ) which aims to raise $50 million. According to both companies websites, they are both developing novel formulations of FDA approved drugs and plan to use the FDA's simplified 505(b)(2) pathway.
Finally, remember that there are still to carry over's from January that are said to be "day to day". Shimmick Construction (NASDAQ; SCCI) and Nordic Realty (NORT ), are the two names.