Electra Therapeutics Targets Nearly $978 Million Valuation in Nasdaq IPO

Electra Therapeutics is seeking a valuation of as much as about $977.6 million in its planned U.S. initial public offering, according to terms reported Monday from an amended regulatory filing. The South San Francisco biotechnology company plans to offer about 21.67 million shares at $14 to $16 each. At the top of that range, the offering would raise roughly $346.7 million in gross proceeds before underwriting discounts, commissions and other expenses.

The indicated range is preliminary, so the final IPO price, proceeds and valuation can still change before the offering is completed. Electra has applied to list its common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker ETRA. Its original registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission names Jefferies, TD Cowen, Evercore ISI and Cantor as the underwriters and says completion of the IPO is contingent on the Nasdaq listing.

Electra describes itself as a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing precision medicines that target signal regulatory proteins, or SIRPs, for immune-mediated diseases and cancer. The company has no approved product disclosed in its registration statement, making the IPO largely a financing event for clinical development rather than an expansion of an established commercial business.

IPO proceeds would support two clinical-stage programs

The company’s lead candidate is ipsoprubart, formerly known as ELA026, a fully human monoclonal antibody designed to target SIRPα, SIRPβ1 and SIRPγ. Electra is developing it for secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, or sHLH, a rare and potentially life-threatening hyperinflammatory condition in which activated immune cells can cause severe organ damage.

Electra is testing ipsoprubart in SURPASS, a global Phase 2/3 registrational study in newly diagnosed, treatment-naive adult and pediatric patients with sHLH. The company’s clinical-trial materials describe the study as open-label, single-arm and externally controlled. Its primary objective is to assess eight-week survival in treatment-naive patients with lymphoma-associated HLH, with additional measures covering safety, efficacy, healthcare outcomes, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.

The company is also testing ipsoprubart in T-cell malignancies. Electra announced in May that the first patient had been dosed in a Phase 1 study involving relapsed or refractory T-cell cancers. Its SEC filing says the broader development plan includes work in T-cell and natural-killer-cell malignancies alongside the sHLH program.

ELA822 is Electra’s second clinical-stage asset. On September 10, the company announced the start of a Phase 1 trial in healthy volunteers. ELA822 is a SIRPγ-specific monoclonal antibody designed for T-cell-mediated immune and inflammatory diseases. Electra said it expects data from the healthy-volunteer study in the first half of 2027 and plans, subject to regulatory clearance, to move into a Phase 1/2 study in patients around mid-2027.

The IPO prospectus says Electra expects to use the offering proceeds, together with its existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, to finance these clinical programs, other research and development, capital expenditures, working capital and general corporate purposes. The final allocation can change as the programs progress and as the company evaluates clinical data.

The IPO follows a $183 million private financing

Electra enters the public-market process with fresh private funding already on its balance sheet. In October 2025, the company raised $183 million in an oversubscribed Series C financing co-led by Nextech and EQT Life Sciences. New investors included Sanofi, HBM Healthcare Investments and Mubadala Capital, while existing investors included OrbiMed, Redmile Group, New Leaf Venture Partners, Westlake BioPartners, Cormorant Asset Management, Blue Owl Capital and RA Capital Management.

At the time, Electra said the financing would fund the pivotal development of ipsoprubart in sHLH, expansion of the drug into hematologic cancers and advancement of ELA822 into clinical testing. The current IPO would add another source of capital as the company moves from privately financed development toward the reporting and disclosure requirements of a Nasdaq-listed business.

Electra was originally formed as part of Star Therapeutics. Its SEC filing says Star established Electra Therapeutics LLC in 2023 and distributed the LLC interests to its own members, leaving Star no longer the parent company or an equity holder after the spinout. Electra is led by President and Chief Executive Officer Quehuong “Kathy” Dong, while Chris Clark is chief financial officer.

The company’s approach is built around SIRP proteins, which are expressed on selected immune-cell populations. Electra is trying to use antibodies against those proteins to selectively deplete activated disease-driving immune cells while preserving broader immune function. That strategy still has to be validated through clinical trials. Drug-development timelines can change, studies can fail to meet endpoints, and regulatory designations do not guarantee approval.

The $978 million figure remains an IPO target

The valuation in the current offering terms should be read as a proposed IPO valuation rather than a market-tested value. The company still needs to complete book-building, set a final offer price and satisfy the conditions for its Nasdaq debut. Investor demand can move an IPO price within, above or below an initial range, and an issuer can also postpone or withdraw an offering.

At $16 per share, about 21.67 million shares would produce roughly $346.7 million in gross proceeds. Electra would receive less on a net basis after underwriting discounts, commissions and offering expenses. For a clinical-stage biotech company, the amount of usable capital matters because drug trials, manufacturing work, regulatory preparation and follow-on studies can require substantial spending before a product generates commercial revenue.

The company’s lead program provides one of the clearest operating milestones beyond the IPO itself. SURPASS is actively enrolling patients, and Electra has said it expects to complete enrollment in the registrational program in the second half of 2027. The ELA822 Phase 1 readout is expected earlier, in the first half of 2027. Those clinical milestones will be important tests of the development plans described to prospective IPO investors.

Electra’s registration statement also emphasizes the risks attached to a business whose value depends heavily on experimental medicines. Clinical results may not support further development or approval, trial enrollment can take longer than expected, and additional financing may be needed even after a sizable IPO. The company will also face the continuing costs of operating as a public company if the listing is completed.

The immediate next step is pricing. Until Electra sets the final IPO price and its shares begin trading, the nearly $978 million valuation remains the upper end of what the company is seeking rather than an established public-market capitalization. If the offering proceeds, ETRA will give public investors direct exposure to the progress of ipsoprubart and ELA822 as both programs move through their next clinical milestones.