Lycia Therapeutics ($LYCA) just filed for a Nasdaq IPO. South San Francisco clinical-stage biotech developing LYTAC/cataLYTAC protein degraders for autoimmune, inflammatory, and allergic diseases.

Lead assets: LCA-0061 for food allergy and LCA-0321 for Graves' disease. Founded with Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi. Underwriters: Jefferies, TD Cowen, Evercore ISI, Guggenheim Securities. Backing looks serious: oversubscribed $75M Series D co-led by Janus Henderson and Balyasny, with Eli Lilly, RTW, and Venrock continuing. New CFO Amy Bachrodt helped lead Maze Therapeutics' 2025 IPO. The window matters here. Biotech IPOs have rebounded but stay selective, favoring later-stage assets and pharma validation. Lycia's early-stage profile and Lilly partnership fit that mold, though terms and valuation aren't set yet. Bottom line: a Bertozzi-founded degrader play with Lilly validation and a proven IPO CFO. Early-stage clinical risk is real, but this is the kind of profile the current selective biotech window rewards.

Lead assets: LCA-0061 for food allergy and LCA-0321 for Graves' disease. Founded with Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi. Underwriters: Jefferies, TD Cowen, Evercore ISI, Guggenheim Securities.