July 25 Financial Quick Takes: Livongo, Castle pop after IPOs; plus a K2HV-Evelo deal, earnings beats for AZ & Roche, and more
Livongo, Castle rise in first trading day
Livongo Health inc. (NASDAQ:LVGO) and Castle Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTL) each posted gains in their first day of trading Thursday after pricing upsized IPOs. Digital health play Livongo added 36%; it raised $355.2 million by selling 12.7 million shares at $28, giving it a valuation of $2.5 billion. Livongo had proposed to sell 10.7 million shares at $24-$26. Meanwhile, Castle, a dermatological cancer profiling company, climbed 34% after raising $64 million through the sale of 4 million shares at $16, the top of its proposed range. It had proposed to sell 3.3 million shares.
K2HV picks Evelo for first investment
Debt and equity investor K2 Health Ventures entered a loan and security agreement with microbiome company Evelo Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:EVLO), the first deal K2HV has made since launching its fund in May. Evelo has borrowed $20 million thus far under the agreement, and may obtain another $25 million in two tranches of debt funding by 2021. K2HV told BioCentury in May it is primarily seeking customized debt deals that minimize dilution, but will also take equity in some cases (see "K2HV Seeks Profit and Purpose")...