​G1 Therapeutics, a clinical-stage oncology company based in Research Triangle Park, became a publicly traded entity today with a $105 million initial public offering of seven million shares of stock priced at $15 a share.

The IPO also gives underwriters a 30-day window to buy up to 1,050,000 additional shares at the same $15 apiece.

[Shares opened at $14.83, dipped to as low as $14.10, then rebounded to close the day at $15.]

G1, a spinout from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is developing novel therapies that address significant unmet needs in people with various cancers. The North Carolina Biotechnology Center bootstrapped the company with $500,000 in loans in 2011 and 2012. G1 and subsequently raised $95.5 million in venture capital.

In late 2016 the company announced a partnership with biotech pioneer Genentech on a clinical trial involving patients with small-cell lung cancer who are receiving chemotherapy.

In more recent launches, G1 is testing its promising drug candidate trilaciclib (G1T28) as well as two of its other therapies: G1T38 and G1T48.

G1 has been enrolling a Phase 2 study of intravenous trilaciclib in patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), and a Phase 1b/2a study of its oral G1T38 in patients with estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative (ER+, HER2-) breast cancer. In addition, G1 CEO Mark Velleca, M.D., Ph.D., said the company is advancing G1T48 so it can begin a Phase 1 trial in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Trilaciclib is a potential first-in-class, short-acting intravenous inhibitor of CDK4 and CDK6, two proteins involved in cancer formation. Inhibiting these proteins temporarily stops desirable healthy cells from dividing, making them resistant to damage from chemotherapy drugs that target dividing cells. That helps cancer patients’ bodies strengthen immune system function during chemotherapy.

G1 and Genentech said in a joint news release in December 2016 they will conduct a Phase 2 trial to evaluate the combination of Genentech’s FDA-approved cancer-immunotherapy drug Tecentriq (atezolizumab) with G1’s Trilaciclib to treat lung cancer.

The G1 stock began trading today on The NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “GTHX.”

(C) N.C. Biotechnology Center