Immix Biopharma Inc., a Santa Monica-based biotechnology company, got slammed in its trading debut this week, losing 27% of its value in its first day of trading on Nasdaq.
On Friday, the tiny biotech’s stock closed at $4 a share, a recovery of about 9% from its previous opening day’s close.
The nine-year-old company, which is known for its tissue-specific therapeutics that aims to help doctors rely less on traditional chemotherapy, was cofounded by Ilya Rachman, a physician at the world renowned Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Immix raised $21 million in its IPO.
Proceeds from the IPO will be used to fund clinical trials for several of its cancer therapeutics that target tumors, colorectal cancer and soft tissue sarcoma. It’s planning several trials of its therapies, or medical treatments, in 2022.
Overall, the company is focusing its research on soft-tissue sarcomas, which are a group of cancers found in blood vessels, fat cells and the lining of joints.
Gabriel Morris, chief financial officer of Immix, did not return phone calls seeking comment on his company’s initial public offering, or IPO, and its tepid reception that it received on Wall Street.
In an email, Morris wrote Friday that the company is in a regulatory and legal “quiet period” which prohibits the company from making any public statements for another 25 days.
In 2020, the early stage growth company with a market capitalization of $26.4 million, reported a loss of $1.1 million. It also reported a loss of $1.6 million in its first nine months of 2021.
In filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Immix says that its competitors include biotech firms like Kymera Therapeutics Inc.; Morphic Holding Inc.; RAPT Therapeutics Inc.; Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Landos Biopharma Inc.; and, Seres Therapeutics Inc.
dot.LA reporter Keerthi Vedantam contributed to this post.