Eikon prices upsized US$381m IPO with Merck as anchor investor
Eikon Therapeutics raised an upsized US$381m late Wednesday from its Nasdaq IPO that included participation by Merck, a banker involved in the offering told IFR.
Responding to robust demand, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Cantor and Mizuho Securities priced 21.2m shares at US$18.00, the top of the US$16–$18 marketing range and a full 20% upsize from the original 17.6m shares — the maximum allowable.
The banks were multiple times oversubscribed, attracting a mix of new and existing long-only and healthcare-focused investors. Among them was Merck, which submitted a US$30m order at launch — a detail not publicly disclosed, the banker said.
Merck's investment would give it an initial 3.3% in Eikon, assuming the US$30m order was filled.
Eikon will debut on the Nasdaq Thursday under the ticker "EIKN".
In a similar move, Eli Lilly purchased a 4.9% stake in Veradermics as part of a $256.3m Nasdaq IPO Tuesday. Veradermics, which is developing an oral formulation of minoxidil to treat hair loss, soared 122.1% on debut Wednesday.
Eikon is conducting two Phase II/III trials using the same drug in combination with Merck’s blockbuster therapy Keytruda to treat skin cancer and lung cancer. Its earlier-stage pipeline includes programs targeting ovarian, breast, prostate and pancreatic cancers.
Eikon's ties to Merck run deep: CEO Roger Perlmutter and chief medical officer Roy Baynes are both former Merck R&D leaders who oversaw Keytruda’s development and commercial rollout.
Founded in 2019 by Nobel laureate Eric Betzig, Eikon applies Betzig’s prize-winning imaging and microscopy techniques to speed development of drugs it has licensed from third parties. The biotech licensed its lead drug in 2023 from privately held Seven and Eight Biopharmaceuticals, and that same year Eikon licensed two additional drugs from Chinese biotech Impact Therapeutics.