The 2022 IPO market is already revving up with 3 stock listings from Boston-area biotechs

By Christopher Zara

January 07, 2022

It’s a big day for Boston-area startups in the biotech and pharmaceuticals space. Three of them are expected to make their public debuts on Friday in some of the first IPOs of 2022. Here’s a quick rundown of the companies, all three of which will list on the Nasdaq:

    Vigil Neuroscience: This company, based in Cambridge, develops treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. It describes itself as “clinical-stage” with a specific focus on therapeutics that restore microglia, immune cells in the brain that are critical for the health of the central nervous system. According to its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the firm’s lead therapeutic candidate is in a Phase 1 clinical trial, which is expected to be completed in the second half of this year. Vigil priced 7 million shares of its common stock at $14 and will list under the ticker symbol “VIGL.”

    CinCor Pharma: This company, based in Boston, is developing a therapy for the treatment of hypertension, aka high blood pressure, one of the leading contributors to premature death. Its SEC filing indicates that its main drug candidate could help patients who don’t respond to conventional treatments. At the time of the filing, the company was conducting a Phase 2 clinical trial. CinCor priced 12.1 million shares of its common stock at $16 and will list under the ticker symbol “CINC.”

    Amylyx Pharmaceuticals: This company, based in Cambridge, is developing a therapeutic for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a progressive disease of the nerve cells, sometimes called Lou Gehrig’s disease. According to Johns Hopkins, approximately 5,000 people are diagnosed with this condition in the United States every year. In its SEC filing, Amylyx says it believes its therapy is the “first drug candidate to show both a functional and survival benefit in a large-scale clinical trial of patients with ALS.” The results of its Phase 2 clinical trial were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in September 2020 and it submitted a new drug application to the Food and Drug Administration late last year. For its IPO, the company priced 10 million shares of its common stock at $16. It will list under the ticker symbol “AMLX.” 
 
 

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