Hyperion Therapeutics seeks $57.5 million from rare biotech IPO

Hyperion Therapeutics Inc., a South San Francisco biotech company developing drugs against metabolic disorders, will seek $57.5 million in an initial public offering.
Hyperion’s filing Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission is significant because biotech IPOs have been far and few between, especially in the Bay Area, over the past four years.
Hyperion, led by CEO Don Santel, said it would use the net proceeds to fund clinical development, win regulatory approval and launch Ravicti, its experimental treatment for urea cycle disorders and hepatic encephalopathy.
It also plans to use the money to repay up to $22 million of a potential loan from Ucyclyd Pharma Inc., a subsidiary of Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. (NASDAQ: MRX), over eight quarters, make milestone, royalty and license payments to Ucyclyd and Brusilow Enterprises LLC, and for general corporate purposes.

Bay Area transplant Sorbent Therapeutics closes $53M Series B financing

Sorbent Therapeutics Inc. closed a $53 million Series B financing round led by new investor Novartis Venture Funds.
A Bay Area transplant from Chicago, the three-employee Sunnyvale company will use the money to complete a mid-stage program for its lead congestive heart failure drug and slowly add a few employees, CEO Detlef Albrecht said.