BioVie is eyeing a $19.7 million IPO for a spinout focused on bringing a new formulation of an approved kidney failure drug to market as a potential treatment for liver disease.
The plan is to offer 1.8 million shares of the spinout, called Option Therapeutics, priced between $10 and $12 apiece, according to a March 13 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.
Should the final price come in at the middle of this range, BioVie expects Option to rake in $17 million in net proceeds for the IPO—rising to $19.7 million if underwriters fully take up their option to buy an additional 272,727 shares at the same price.
After the IPO—for which a date has yet to be set—BioVie will still own at least 60% of Option, meaning the company has the final say in electing Option’s directors.
Option will be focused on taking forward an investigational infusion treatment called BIV201. The vasopressin V1 receptor agonist is made of terlipressin acetate, an injectable form of which is marketed by Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals under the name Terlivaz to improve kidney function for adults with hepatorenal syndrome.
BioVie had previously been evaluating BIV201 for ascites, a common complication of liver cirrhosis. There are currently no approved treatments specifically for the condition.
With about 190,000 patients hospitalized each year in the U.S. with cirrhosis and ascites, BioVie has estimated that the potential market for BIV201 could top $2.3 billion.
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But, despite having labeled BIV201 its “most de-risked program,” BioVie disclosed in 2024 that it was halting work on the asset, explaining that “unfortunately [it] is a program that will take two years to complete.”
At the time, BioVie CEO Cuong Do said the biotech “look[ed] forward to partnering this program with a company interested in developing the first potential treatment for ascites and related complications potentially at an earlier stage of cirrhosis.”
Now, it’s been decided that the vehicle to take BIV201 forward will be Option. In Friday’s SEC filing, BioVie reaffirmed that it had already received clearance from the FDA to begin a phase 3 study in adults with decompensated liver cirrhosis and ascites who have recently recovered from, or are recovering from, acute kidney injury. The only thing delaying Option is sourcing the necessary funds.
After a lull of biotech IPOs in 2025, Option could soon be joining a growing list of drug developers voicing an interest in the public markets. CEOs of companies that already made the leap this year told Fierce they had detected a positive change in sentiment toward biotech IPOs in recent months.
