Lycia Therapeutics prices upsized IPO at $18, top of its range, to raise about $317.5m

Lycia Therapeutics, a South San Francisco company developing drugs designed to degrade disease-causing proteins outside cells, was expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market as LYCA on 23 October 2026 after pricing a larger offering than it first planned. Its preliminary prospectus, dated 20 October 2026, offered 14,700,000 shares at $16.00 to $18.00 each. On 22 October 2026 it priced 17,640,000 shares at $18.00, the top of that range, for expected gross proceeds of about $317.5m before underwriting discounts and other expenses. All shares in the offering will be sold by the company.

Lycia is a clinical-stage company with an initial focus on autoimmune, inflammatory and allergic diseases. Its LYTAC (Lysosomal Targeting Chimera) platform builds on work by Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and HHMI investigator at Stanford University. According to its prospectus, existing degrader approaches such as PROTACs and molecular glues are generally limited to proteins inside cells. Its lead candidates are LCA-0061, a degrader of IgE for food allergy and other allergic diseases, and LCA-0321, designed to degrade the autoantibodies that the company describes as the drivers of Graves' disease. A second IgE degrader, LCA-0062, which the prospectus calls a fast-follower program, is in Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling activities.

LCA-0061, LCA-0062 and LCA-0321 are investigational therapeutic candidates, and none has been approved: the prospectus says Lycia has not completed any clinical trials and has no products approved for commercial sale. Among the risk factors it lists, Lycia says it has incurred significant operating losses since its inception and has not generated any revenue from product sales. It reported a net loss of $36.5m for 2025 and $19.2m for the six months to 30 June 2026, and an accumulated deficit of $136.8m at 30 June 2026.