Lycia IPO: Shares in the biotech company founded by a Nobel laureate are now available

Pre-market trading in shares of the biotech company Lycia Therapeutics has begun on the Freedom client trading platform. Building on the work of its co-founder, Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertocchi, the company is developing drugs designed to selectively reduce the levels of certain proteins, for example, in cases of allergies and autoimmune diseases. Later on October 23, Lycia’s shares will be listed on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol LYCA.

Biotechnology company Lycia raised $317.5 million in its IPO on Nasdaq. It sold 17.64 million shares at $18 apiece—the upper end of its previously announced price range. As a result, the company’s total valuation stands at $990.6 million, according to Bloomberg’s calculations.

Jefferies, TD Securities, Evercore ISI, Guggenheim Securities, and LifeSci Capital served as underwriters for the offering. They were granted a 30-day option to purchase up to 2.6 million shares.

Lycia plans to use the proceeds from the transaction to fund clinical trials of its drug candidates, according to the IPO prospectus. Two of them are in Phase I clinical trials, and another drug is in the preclinical stage.

Lycia was founded in 2019 by Carolyn Bertocci, the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate. The technology is based on the work of Bertocci and her team at Stanford University.

Scientists have described LYTAC molecules as “chimeras targeting lysosomes.” According to their theory, one part of such a molecule binds to a target protein outside the cell or on its surface, while the other binds to a receptor that helps deliver it inside. The protein is then broken down in a lysosome—a cellular structure containing enzymes. This approach expands the capabilities of targeted protein degradation technologies, which were originally designed for intracellular targets.

The problem is that it is precisely these proteins that often play a key role in the development of cancer, age-related diseases, and autoimmune disorders, the scientists wrote. They proposed an approach that Lycia CEO Etna Trombli later called an “arrow”: one end of the “arrow” recognizes the protein, while the other “selects transport” into the cell. The fused molecule “penetrates” the lysosome, where it is broken down.

This idea caught the attention of the venture capital firm Versant Ventures, which became a co-founder of Lycia and later, in 2020, invested $50 million in the company. In total, since its founding, the company has raised $301.6 million across four funding rounds.

In 2021, it entered into an agreement with Eli Lilly for the joint development of drugs, under which the pharmaceutical giant paid it a $35 million upfront payment and later $2 million for extending the contract. However, Eli Lilly terminated the agreement with the startup; this decision took effect in February 2026, according to the IPO documents. In the same documents, Lycia notes that not a single target metric was achieved during the entire period of the collaboration.

According to its prospectus, aside from the sale of preferred shares and bonds, payments from Eli Lilly were the company’s sole source of funding. It was also the sole source of non-dilutive capital. Now Lycia must finance its operations on its own, notes the research firm HDIN Research. As of June 30, the startup had $148.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, and its accumulated loss stood at $136.8 million.

HDIN Research also points out the biotech industry’s reliance on Chinese raw materials, which poses risks of supply chain disruptions amid geopolitical tensions, and notes that some patents are still pending.

The main risk for Lycia is the rejection of its development projects or weak research results, which could significantly affect the stock price in the future, according to Freedom analyst Alem Bektemirov. The brokerage firm has set a price target of $19.6 for the company’s shares, implying upside potential of nearly 9% relative to the offering price.

_______________________

Freedom Broker clients will be able to trade Lycia shares before the main trading session opens. Trading will begin in the early pre-market session 2–3 hours before the U.S. markets open (from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Astana time). To participate, click on the LYCAticker .