Akcea Therapeutics (AKCA) IPO Opens Modesty Higher

Today's IPO for Akcea Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: AKCA) opened for trading at $8.13 its initial public offering of 15,625,000 shares common stock at a public offering price of $8.00 per share, for gross proceeds of $125.0 million before underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses to be paid by Akcea. In addition, Akcea has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 2,343,750 additional shares of common stock at the public offering price, less underwriting discount and commissions, to cover over-allotments, if any.

In addition, Novartis Pharma AG has agreed to purchase $50.0 million of Akcea's common stock in a separate private placement concurrent with the completion of Akcea's initial public offering at a price per share equal to the initial public offering price. The closing of the initial public offering is not conditioned upon the closing of the concurrent private placement.

Cowen, Stifel and Wells Fargo Securities are acting as joint book running managers for the offering.BMO Capital Markets is acting as lead manager for the offering.

Akcea Therapeutics is a late-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing drugs to treat patients with serious cardiometabolic diseases caused by lipid disorders. Akcea is advancing a mature pipeline of four novel drugs with the potential to treat multiple diseases, including volanesorsen, AKCEA-APO(a)-LRx, AKCEA-ANGPTL3-LRx and AKCEA-APOCIII-LRx, which are all based on antisense technology developed by Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The most advanced drug in its pipeline, volanesorsen, has successfully completed a Phase 3 clinical program for the treatment of familial chylomicronemia syndrome, or FCS, and is currently in Phase 3 clinical development for the treatment of familial partial lipodystrophy, or FPL. Akcea is assembling the infrastructure to commercialize its drugs globally with a focus on lipid specialists as the primary call point. Akcea is a subsidiary of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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