Oncobiologics (ONS) began trading on Nasdaq on 18 May 2016

Company Name ONCOBIOLOGICS, INC.
Company Address 7 CLARKE DRIVE
CRANBURY, NJ 08512
Company Phone 6096193990
Company Website www.oncobiologics.com
CEO Pankaj Mohan
Employees (as of 3/31/2016) 89
Fiscal Year End 9/30
Status Priced (5/13/2016)
Share Price $6.00
Shares Offered 5,833,334
Offer Amount $35,000,004.00

Oncobiologics' SEC filing listed two drugs that have wrapped Phase I, putting them on the threshold of a Phase III to convince regulators that they were just as good as the originals: ONS-3010 (Humira, or adalimumab) and ONS-1045 (Avastin, or bevacizumab). Six more drugs are in preclinical development.

The biotech is unusual in many ways. The biosimilars business is dominated by global players like Novartis ($NVS), Amgen ($AMGN), Pfizer ($PFE), Boehringer Ingelheim and Samsung Bioepis, a joint venture with Biogen ($BIIB). Over the weekend Bioepis won European approval to sell its copy of Enbrel, just four years after the company was set up. Some smaller outfits like Momenta Pharmaceuticals ($MNTA), Coherus ($CHRS) and Celltrion have also been busy in the biosimilars business.

To play against those rivals, the upstart will require a hefty infusion of cash, promising investors that a small, nimble group like his can pull off an end run against the major league competition. At the end of last September, Oncobiologics counted $9.1 million in cash after burning through $94 million in development costs, with $14 million in loans due on demand. And CEO Mohan, who's listed with a controlling 53% ownership stake in the company, says that a Phase III can run anywhere from $70 million to $90 million.

The company believes that the stakes are worth the risks, citing $1.4 billion in biosimilar revenue for antibody copies for last year against projected revenue of $56 billion in 2030. But with generalist investors generally sitting out of the biotech IPO market after three years of big gains, a success here faces some tough odds.