Benzinga | Sep 18, 2020 04:17AM EDT

Athira Upsizes IPO, Looks To Raise Over $204M

Athira Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:ATHA) on Thursday upsized its initial public offering plans over what it earlier reported in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

What Happened: The therapeutics company said it now planned to issue 12 million common stock shares, revised from 10 million shares in the filing, at $17 per share.

The gross proceeds from the offering are estimated at approximately $204 million, before deducting discounts and commissions for underwriting along with other offering expenses payable by the company.

Athira's common stock will begin trading on Friday on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol "ATHA." Subject to customary conditions, the offering is expected to close next week on Tuesday.

The company also upsized the underwriter's over-allotment option to 1.8 million shares from the initial 1.5 million shares.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (NYSE:GS), Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF), and Stifel Financial Group (NYSE:SF) are the joint book-running managers for the offering with JMP Securities acting as the co-manager.

Why Does It Matter: The Seattle headquartered drug company is focused on developing therapies for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and is currently enrolling for its clinical trials of ATH-1017.

In June, Athira managed to secure $85 million in a Series B financing led by Perceptive Life Sciences.

Perceptive Life Sciences is the largest shareholder in Athira with 11.6% beneficial ownership. After the offering, its beneficial ownership is expected to drop to 7.1%.