UW's vaccine development company has listed on Nasdaq, with its shares rising on the first day of trading.
Icosavax, a US-based vaccine developer spun out of University of Washington (UW), floated in a $182m initial public offering on Thursday on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
The company issued some 12 million shares having priced them in the middle of the IPO’s $14 to $16 range. They opened at $29 each before closing at $35, representing a 133% increase.
Spun out of UW’s Institute for Protein Design, Icosavax is developing vaccines for respiratory illnesses using virus-like particles. Its candidates include IVX-A12 and IVX-411, which respectively work against human respiratory syncytial virus and Sars-CoV-2.
The company has secured more than $150m in funding since it was founded in 2017.
Icosavax most recently completed a $100m series B round in April this year led by RA Capital Management that included Janus Henderson Investors, Perceptive Advisors, Viking Global Investors, Cormorant Asset Management, Omega Funds, Open Philanthropy…
