Sept. 24 Quick Takes: AveXis vets steer Taysha to IPO; plus Exact Sciences, Monte Rosa, OBiO, Moderna, Immetas and more
Taysha raises $157M in IPO
Shares of Taysha Gene Therapies Inc. (NASDAQ:TSHA) rose $4.06 (20%) to $24.06 in the CNS disorders company’s first day of trading, after it raised $157 million in an upsized IPO through the sale of 7.9 million shares at $20 Thursday for a valuation of $716 million. Former AveXis Inc. executives spun Taysha out of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in April to parlay their experience with Zolgensma onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi -- the first gene therapy approved for spinal muscular atrophy -- into a broad pipeline of AAV9-based gene therapies for monogenic CNS disorders. It had raised at least $126 million in venture money prior to the IPO (see Emerging Company Profile: “Applying AAV9 Across the CNS”).
Conroy’s Cowen presentation lifts Exact Sciences
Cancer screening company Exact Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:EXAS) gained about $3 billion in market cap Thursday after a presentation by Chairman, President and CEO Kevin Conroy revealed early data from the company’s collaboration with the Mayo Clinic on a multicancer screening test. Across six cancer types, the data showed an overall sensitivity of 86% and specificity of 95%. “Five years from now there is no doubt in my mind that we will be the leader in multicancer screening, blood-based colon cancer screening,” Conroy told the Cowen Liquid Biopsy Summit. The stock rose $19.96 (27%) to $94.04, giving Exact Sciences a market cap of more than $14 billion...