The IPO Buzz: CARGO Therapeutics Prices IPO at $15.00 – Low End

Cancer biotech CARGO Therapeutics (CRGX) priced its IPO at $15.00 – the low end of the  $15.00-to-$17.00 price range – on Thursday night, Nov. 9, 2023. The cancer cell therapy company priced 18.75 million shares – the number of shares in the prospectus – at $15.00 to raise $281.25 million. That’s $18.75 million less than the estimated IPO proceeds of $300.0 million, which assumed that the IPO would price at the $16.00 mid-point of its range.

J.P. Morgan, Jefferies, TD Cowen and Truist Securities were the joint book-runners.

CARGO Therapeutics’ stock opened at $15.45 – up 45 cents or 3 percent from its IPO price – at 12:38 p.m. EST today – Friday, Nov. 10, 2023 – on the NASDAQ. Volume: 780,163 shares.

By the closing bell, CARGO Therapeutics’ stock had given up its modest opening-day gains to end at $14.53 – down 47 cents or 3.13 percent.

CARGO Therapeutics, based in San Mateo, California, is evaluating CRG-022, its lead CD22 CAR T-cell product candidate, in “a potentially pivotal Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with LBCL (large B-cell lymphoma) whose disease relapsed or was refractory to CD19 CAR T-cell therapy,” the prospectus says.

CARGO Therapeutics licensed the underlying CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) exclusively from the National Cancer Institute. A CAR is a protein that has been engineered to modify T cells so they can recognize and destroy cancer cells. CARGO Therapeutics’ potential cell therapy uses a cancer patient’s own cells, the prospectus says. 

Principal shareholders include Samsara BioCapital and Third Rock Ventures.

CARGO Therapeutics is not profitable. For the 12 months that ended June 30, 2023, CARGO Therapeutics reported a net loss o f $56.63 million on no revenue.

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