Agios, Onconova set IPO ranges

Cancer companies Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.) and Onconova Therapeutics Inc. (Newton, Pa.) set IPO ranges on Friday. Agios plans to sell 5 million shares at $14-$16. At the $15 midpoint, Agios would raise $75 million and be valued at $439.9 million. The company also plans to raise $12.8 million in a concurrent private placement with partner Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ:CELG). Agios proposed to raise up to $86 million in the offering in June. JPMorgan; Goldman; Cowen; and Leerink are underwriters.

Agios is developing products that target metabolic pathways to disrupt cancer growth and survival. The company's two most advanced programs are AG-221, an inhibitor of mutated isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2), and AG-120, an inhibitor of mutated IDH1. The former is expected to enter the clinic by mid-year to treat IDH2-mutation positive cancers, while the latter is expected to enter the clinic by early 2014 to treat IDH1-mutation positive cancers (see BioCentury, Aug. 15, 2011). ...