Talaris has raised $150m in an initial public offering almost two decades after being spun out of University of Louisville as Regenerx.

Talaris Therapeutics, a US-based cell therapy developer spun out of University of Louisville, has priced its shares at $17 each and raised $150m in its initial public offering. The company will trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol TALS, having issued more than 8.8 million shares. Founded in 2002 as Regenerex, Talaris is working on cell therapies that help prevent the rejection of transplanted organs and eliminate the need for immunosuppressants. Its lead asset, FCR001, is aimed at kidney transplant patients. Proceeds from the offering have been allocated to advancing FCR001 through a phase 3 trial and explore additional uses for the therapy. Money will also go towards expanded chemistry, manufacturing and control operations related to FCR001 and preclinical pipeline development. Talaris obtained $115m in a series B round co-led by Surveyor Capital and Viking Global Investors in October 2020, when Cormorant Asset Management, Invus, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Eventide Asset Management, Logos Capital, Aisling Capital and Pamoja Capital also took part. The series B round also featured Blackstone Life Sciences, Longitude Capital and Qiming Venture Partners USA after they had backed a $100m series A round in April 2019. Blackstone retains a 20.1% shareholding following the IPO, followed by Longitude (7.4%), Qiming (7.1%), Surveyor (6.2%) and Viking (6.3%). Morgan Stanley, SVB Leerink, Evercore ISI and Guggenheim Securities are the joint book-running managers for the offering. They have been granted a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 1.3 million shares.

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Thierry Heles

Thierry Heles is the editor of Global University Venturing, host of the Beyond the Breakthrough interview podcast and responsible for the monthly GUV Gazette (sign up here for free).