Kate Walther

San Francisco – February 9, 2023 – Cooley advised Structure Therapeutics, a clinical-stage global biopharmaceutical company, on its $185.3 million initial public offering, including the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional American depositary shares. Lawyers Charlie Kim, Patrick Loofbourrow, Andrew Harline and Su Lian Lu led the Cooley team.

The offering marks the first sizable US life sciences IPO this year. Structure Therapeutics will use the proceeds to develop new oral therapies for the treatment of various diseases, including those impacting the metabolic, cardiovascular and pulmonary systems. Its lead product candidate targets Type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Structure Therapeutics aims to develop and deliver novel oral therapeutics to treat a wide range of chronic diseases with unmet medical needs. Its differentiated technology platform leverages structure-based drug discovery and computational chemistry expertise, enabling it to build a pipeline of product candidates. The company currently focuses on G-protein-coupled receptors as a therapeutic target class.

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Cooley advised the underwriters in Arcutis Biotherapeutics’ $172.5 million follow-on offering of 8,625,000 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $20.00 per share. Arcutis is a biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing innovative treatments for immuno-dermatological diseases. Partners Denny Won, Kristin VanderPas, Charlie Kim and Dave Peinsipp led the Cooley team.

Cooley advised Asymchem, a Chinese-based contract development and manufacturing company serving the global pharmaceutical and biotech industry, on its definitive agreement to acquire Snapdragon Chemistry, a US-based chemical technology company. Partner Yiming Liu led the Cooley team.

As a result of the transaction, Asymchem will significantly expand its footprint in the US, offering customers a seamless path from preclinical process R&D through commercial current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) production. Snapdragon will operate as a stand-alone Asymchem division, and continue with its ongoing lab and manufacturing facility expansion for additional capacity to support larger, pilot-scale manufacturing in Waltham, Massachusetts.

"We believe continuous flow manufacturing is a revolutionary technology and represents the future of pharmaceutical production, not only generating advantages to process safety and cost, but also bringing tremendous environmental benefits," Hao Hong, chairman and CEO of Asymchem, said in a news release. "Asymchem has been deeply committed to flow chemistry technology development and its application expansion in the pharmaceutical industry for more than a decade. We are excited that this strategic acquisition will further strengthen our capabilities in continuous manufacturing, as well as broadening our service scope and client pool."

Cooley advised Drata, a next-generation security and compliance automation company, on its $100 million Series B financing round, which brings the company’s valuation to $1 billion. Lawyers Ken Rollins, Carlos Ramirez and Dylan Kornbluth led the Cooley team advising Drata.

Cooley advised Janux Therapeutics on its $193.8 million initial public offering of 11,400,000 shares of common stock. Janux Therapeutics, whose securities now trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol JANX, is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel T-cell engager immunotherapies. Partners Ken Rollins and Charlie Kim led the Cooley team.