Thiel-backed therapy developer AbCellera looks to raise up to $391 million in IPO

(Reuters) - Peter Thiel-backed biotech developer AbCellera Biologics Inc, which has partnered with Eli Lilly for its COVID-19 antibody drug, said on Monday it expects to raise up to $391 million in its initial public offering (IPO).

AbCellera plans to sell 23 million shares priced between $14 and $17 apiece, it said in a regulatory filing https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1703057/000119312520311091/d29983ds1a.htm.

There has been a strong demand for new biotechnology stocks, with almost half of the U.S. IPOs in 2020 coming from the healthcare sector, according to data from IPOScoop.

Reuters reported in September that AbCellera had hired investment banks for a U.S. IPO and could look to raise between $200 million and $300 million.

The company plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "ABCL".

AbCellera said last month its revenue rose to $11.6 million in 2019 from $8.8 million, a year earlier. Its net loss for the year was $2.2 million, compared to a profit of $309,000 in 2018.

The company, which also counts Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and healthcare-focused buyout firm OrbiMed Advisors LLC among its investors, said Credit Suisse, Stifel, Berenberg, SVB Leerink and BMO Capital Market were the lead underwriters for the IPO.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)