Galecto Raises $85 Million in an Initial Public Offering to Advance Fibrotic Disease Pipeline

Fresh on the heels of completing a $64 million capital raise one month ago, U.S. and Denmark based biotech Galecto priced an initial public offering of 5.7 million shares of common stock at $15.00 per share to raise $85 million.

The shares will trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol “GLTO.” In addition, Galecto has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 850,000 shares of common stock at the initial public offering price.

The new capital will support development of its pipeline of experimental therapies to treat fibrotic diseases and cancer, including lead candidate GB0139 for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a rare, life-limiting lung disease characterized by fibrosis and scarring of lung tissue with a median survival of three to five years after diagnosis. Patients with IPF most often suffer from progressive shortness of breath, particularly with exertion; chronic cough; fatigue and weakness; and chest discomfort.

Currently approved drugs slow down but do not halt disease progression and the only curative therapy is lung transplant, an option available for a small group of patients.

Galecto is developing small-molecule inhibitors of galectin-3 and lysyl oxidase-like 2, which play key roles in regulating fibrosis. Its lead product candidate, GB0139, is an inhaled inhibitor of galectin-3 for the treatment of severe fibrotic lung diseases such as IPF. The company has conducted a phase 2a trial in 24 IPF patients and has initiated a Phase 2b trial in 450 IPF patients, with topline results expected in 2022.

Galecto is the 23rd rare disease drug developer to complete an initial public offering on a U.S. exchange in 2020, bringing the total raised in 2020 IPOs by rare disease focused biotechs to $4.2 billion, compared to an average $1.5 billion raised through IPOs by these companies in the past couple of years.