1. Investment Snapshot
2. Thesis
3. Valuation & Price Target
4. Business & Product Moat
5. People & Governance
6. Market & Macro
7. Financial Quality
8. Risk Register
9. Prediction Market
10. 𝕏 Posts
Discussion
1. Investment Snapshot
2. Thesis
3. Valuation & Price Target
4. Business & Product Moat
5. People & Governance
6. Market & Macro
7. Financial Quality
8. Risk Register
9. Prediction Market
10. 𝕏 Posts
Discussion
1. Investment Snapshot
2. Metrics vs Peers
3. Price Chart
4. Valuation
5. Offer Terms
6. Financial Statements
Discussion
Research report, target price, DCF and forensic scores are for subscribers. View plans
Symbol
AURA
Listed on
2021-10-29
Sector
Health Care
Subsector
Biotechnology
Offer Price
$14.00
first filed $14.00–$16.00Shares Offered
5.4M
29.21M
$397.7M
18.5%
Implied Upside vs Midpoint
Description
We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company leveraging our novel targeted oncology platform to develop a potential new standard of care across multiple cancer indications, with an initial focus on ocular and urologic oncology. Our proprietary platform enables the targeting of a broad range of solid tumors using Virus-Like Particles, or VLPs, that can be conjugated with drugs or loaded with nucleic acids to create Virus-Like Drug Conjugates, or VDCs. Our VDCs are largely agnostic to tumor type and can recognize a surface marker, known as heparan sulfate proteoglycans, or HSPGs, that are specifically modified and broadly expressed on many tumors. AU-011, our first VDC candidate, is being developed for the first line treatment of primary choroidal melanoma, a rare disease with no drugs approved. We have completed a Phase 1b/2 trial using intravitreal administration that has demonstrated a statistically significant growth rate reduction in patients with prior active growth and high levels of tumor control with visual acuity preservation in a majority of patients, as assessed using clinical endpoints in alignment with feedback from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA. These data supported advancement into a Phase 2 dose escalation trial, where we are currently evaluating suprachoroidal, or SC, administration of AU-011. We plan to present six to twelve month safety and efficacy data from this trial in 2022, and, if favorable, initiate a pivotal trial in the second half of 2022. We are also developing AU-011 for additional ocular oncology indications and plan to file an IND in the United States in second half of 2022 for choroidal metastases. Leveraging our VDCs’ broad tumor targeting capabilities, we also plan to initiate a Phase 1a trial in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, or NMIBC, our first non-ophthalmic solid tumor indication, in the second half of 2022 and present Phase 1a data from this trial in 2023. VDCs are a novel class of drugs with a dual mechanism of action that promotes cancer cell death by both the delivery of the cytotoxic payload to generate acute necrosis and by activating a secondary immune mediated response. VDCs are analogous to antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, another technology that employs a targeting moiety and a cytotoxic payload. We believe that our VDC platform has the potential to serve as a backbone for a broad portfolio of targeted oncology therapeutics and has the following potential key advantages: 1. A single VDC can deliver hundreds of cytotoxic molecules conjugated to its capsid proteins. 2. Based on the ability of VLPs to selectively recognize specifically modified and overexpressed HSPGs present on a large number of tumor types, VDCs have the potential to be used broadly across a wide range of cancers with limited off-target toxicity. 3. The VDCs have a high number of HSPG binding sites and this multi-valency permits the strong and selective binding to tumor cells. 4. VDCs have a dual mechanism of action, first by acute necrosis of the tumor cells, and subsequently by creating a highly immunogenic milieu that induces an antitumor specific immune response leading to a more robust and durable therapy. --- We were incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware in January 2009. Our principal corporate office is located at 85 Bolton Street, Cambridge, MA 02140, and our telephone number is (617) 500-8864. Our website address is www.aurabiosciences.com.
| Metric | Value | Peer median | Among peers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Net cash / market cap | 4.4% | 9.7% | ||
Debt / equity | 0.00 | 0.00 | ||
Current ratio | 6.94 | 5.58 | ||
9 premium metrics: DCF value / price, Growth the price needs: how common, Last 12 months vs full year and 6 more Unlock | ||||
▼ Priced at $14.00, 7% below the midpoint of the first filed range ($14.00–$16.00, 2021-10-25).
Each filing is plotted ahead of the first trading day on the price chart.
| Filed | Form | Price range | Price | Shares offered | Deal size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-10-25 | S-1/A | $14.00–$16.00 | — | 5,000,000 | $75.0M |
| 2021-11-01 | 424B4 | — | $14.00 | 5,400,000 | $75.6M |
Aura Biosciences, Inc. income statement and balance sheet, FY Dec 2021 to FY Dec 2025, as reported in SEC filings.
| Metric | FY Dec 2021after listing | FY Dec 2022after listing | FY Dec 2024after listing | FY Dec 2025after listing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating income | ($35.3M) | ($60.3M) | ($96.1M) | ($113M) |
| Net income | ($35.3M) | ($58.8M) | ($86.9M) | ($106M) |
| Metric | FY Dec 2021after listing | FY Dec 2022after listing | FY Dec 2024after listing | FY Dec 2025after listing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total assets | $160M | $224M | $183M | — |
| Total liabilities | $7.7M | $28.4M | $30.5M | — |
| Total equity | $152M | $196M | $152M | — |
| Cash & equivalents | $149M | $122M | $31.7M | — |