An NK cell therapy biotech pulls IPO ambitions weeks after second trial clearance

Artiva Biotherapeutics has elected not to move forward with an IPO. The San Diego cell therapy developer quietly disclosed its plans not to wade into the murky public waters in an SEC filing on Tuesday.

With an IND clearance for its second oncology asset just six weeks ago, Artiva has decided to back out of its plans, which have been in the making since early 2021. The natural killer, or NK, cell therapy company originally penciled in a $100 million offering in April 2021, less than a full year after coming out of stealth with $78 million.

The Nasdaq debut would’ve been Artiva’s third main financing haul, after a $120 million Series B in February 2021. That round came a month after Fred Aslan joined as CEO and president. He had held the president post at Vividion, which shortly thereafter also filed for an IPO but wound up withdrawing to instead sell to Bayer.

Artiva’s withdrawal is the third such this week for biotech companies. Rare disease-focused Curative Biotechnology pulled its plans to uplift to the NYSE, the Boca Raton, FL-based company revealed in an SEC filing. Regenerative medicine biotech Therapeutic Solutions International also scrapped its plans after having disclosed a $10 million investment in September to carry forward a Phase III stem cell trial for treating Covid-19 associated lung injury.

Another biotech that had wanted to try an IPO, Intrinsic Medicine, ended up going the SPAC route this week.

Endpoints News has reached out for comment and will update the story.

For its part, Artiva is working on a Phase I/II trial of an off-the-shelf NK cell therapy for patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The study is combining Artiva’s AB-101 with the monoclonal antibody Rituxan. In recent weeks the company got clearance to test its HER2-targeted CAR-NK cell therapy in patients with solid tumors. According to the IPO paperwork, another CAR-NK asset, AB-202, will go through the IND process in the second half of next year.

Thorsten Graef

The company has lined up collaborators like Affimed, Merck and 27.8% shareholder GC Cell, a South Korea-based cell therapy manufacturer.

Multiple milestones were paved this year on the path to becoming $ARTV, including the opening of a new headquarters and R&D lab in San Diego; the addition of CMO Thorsten Graef; a tri-specific NK-cell engager pact with Merck; and a couple board appointments.

Aside from GC Cell, shareholders include 5AM Ventures (15.2%), venBio (15.2%), RA Capital (15.2%) and Venrock (6%).

cell therapy
cmo
cro
biotech
nasdaq
sell