Lycia Therapeutics priced an upsized $317.5 million initial public offering at $18 a share, even as the disclosed human evidence for its lead food-allergy drug remains limited to six treated healthy volunteers. The company expects additional data from healthy participants and people with food allergy in 2027.
Lycia is offering 17.64 million new shares, so all $317.52 million of expected base gross proceeds are for the company. Estimated net proceeds are $290.7 million after underwriting discounts and expenses, with share delivery expected October 26.
Lycia says its LYTAC platform shuttles disease-causing proteins from outside cells into lysosomes, where they are broken down. Lead candidate LCA-0061 is designed to eliminate immunoglobulin E, the antibody that triggers allergic reactions, rather than merely block it. The FDA approved Xolair in 2024 as the first medication to reduce reactions to more than one type of food after accidental exposure; Xolair binds IgE and blocks it from attaching to its receptors.
LCA-0061 is in a randomized Phase 1 trial that starts with single doses in healthy atopic adults before testing multiple doses in adults with food allergy. The first cohort had eight participants randomized 3:1, meaning six received LCA-0061 and two received placebo. Lycia reported a mean 92% reduction in total IgE 24 hours after one 70-milligram dose and no dose-limiting toxicities or safety signals in blinded data through day 35. Those disclosed findings show biomarker activity, not clinical benefit in food-allergy patients.
Using the expected net proceeds together with its existing cash, equivalents and marketable securities, Lycia intends to allocate approximately $80 million to LCA-0061, $70 million to a second IgE degrader called LCA-0062 and $90 million to the Graves’ disease program LCA-0321. Each allocation is intended to fund development substantially through a planned Phase 2 trial; the remainder would support earlier research, working capital and other corporate needs.
Lycia preliminarily estimated that it held $138.2 million in cash, equivalents and marketable securities as of September 30. The company projects that those resources and the expected net proceeds will fund operations into the second half of 2029, but not carry any candidate through regulatory approval. It has no approved products and has not generated product-sales revenue.
Lycia began trading on Nasdaq under the symbol LYCA on Friday and closed its first session at $30, more than 66% above the offering price, MedCity News reported.