Kythera Opens Strong in IPO

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While the broader markets closed down for the day, Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc. was among four companies that saw resounding success in their initial public offering on Thursday, each closing above 20 percent from the opening price.

The Calabasas company, which is developing a prescription treatment to reduce chin fat, sold 4.4 million shares, 10 percent more than expected. The stock opened at $18.49, 16 percent higher than the $16 offering price – which itself was the high end of the range the company had forecast in a regulatory filing two weeks ago.

The stock, trading under the symbol “KYTH,” closed up $3.79, or 24 percent, to $19.79 on the Nasdaq.

Kythera said in its final prospectus that it expected to raise $70.4 million, before expenses, but may receive more since underwriters had the right to purchase up to 660,000 additional shares.

Founded in 2005, Kythera has a drug in late-stage clinical studies that would be the first injectable treatment to reduce chin fat. It retained rights to develop and commercialize the drug, known as ATX-101, in the United States and Canada. It licensed the rights in the rest of the world to German pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG.

The company plans to use net IPO proceeds to finance late stage clinical studies, conduct research and development on other products and for general corporate purposes.

Three other companies – Realogy Holdings Corp., Shutterstock Inc. and Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc. – also closed more than 20 percent above their opening price on Thursday. Having four IPO achieve this was a feat that the Wall Street Journal, citing Dealogic data, said hadn’t been achieved in more than 12 years.

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