Novovirus vaccine developer HilleVax (HLVX) has upsized its initial public offering to $175M from $100M.
The biotech company said in an amended filing on Monday that it now plans to offer 10.3M shares priced between $16 and $18 per share. If priced at the midpoint, the company would raise approximately $175M.
In a filing made last week, HilleVax indicated it planned to raise up to $100M, a number that was most likely a placeholder and subject to change.
HilleVax plans to give underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to 1.5M additional shares. J.P. Morgan, SVB Leerink, Stifel and Guggenheim Securities as serving as bookrunners. The company intends to list its shares on Nasdaq under the symbol HLVX.
Boston-based HilleVax has been developing virus-like particle, or VLP, based vaccine called HIL-214 for the prevention of moderate-to-severe acute gastroenteritis caused by norovirus infection. The company plans to begin Phase 2B testing of the product for babies during the second half of 2022. It intends to develop the product first for the pediatric market and then expand to other age groups.
HIL-214 is licensed from Japanese drugmaker Takeda (TAK), which holds a roughly 9% stake in HilleVax. Healthcare VC firm Frazier Life Sciences hold another 44%. Hillevax was founded by a former chief scientific officer for Takeda.
HilleVax said it expects the deal to generate net proceeds of up to $184M if the underwriter’s option is exercised in full. Around $125M will be earmarked for developing HIL-214. The company said proceeds from the deal, coupled with cash on hand, should be sufficient to fund operations for at least two years.