June 19 Financial Quick Takes: Stoke rises after IPO; plus Polaris, Woodford, follow-ons
Stoke catches fire after pricing upsized IPO
Genetic diseases company Stoke Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:STOK) gained $7.57 (42%) to $25.57 in its first day of trading Wednesday after raising $142 million in its IPO. The company priced 7.9 million shares at $18, giving it a valuation of $566.3 million; it had proposed to sell 6.7 million shares at $14-$16. Stoke expects to begin a Phase I/II trial in 1H20 of its lead antisense oligonucleotide, STK-001, to treat Dravet syndrome, a rare epileptic disorder. Underwriters were J.P. Morgan, Cowen, Credit Suisse and Canaccord Genuity (see "Stoking Protein Production").
Polaris sets sights on $400M ninth fund
Polaris Partners has set a $400 million target for its Fund IX, according to an SEC filing. The firm did not immediately respond to an inquiry. Polaris closed its eighth fund in May 2017 at $435 million, exceeding its $400 million target. Polaris' 2019 investments include BlackThorn Therapeutics Inc. (San Francisco, Calif.) and Dewpoint Therapeutics (Cambridge, Mass.) (see "With $76M Series B, BlackThorn Building Out Neurobehavioral Platform" & "Dewpoint Launches")...