NEW YORK — Shares for blood-disorder drug developer Global Blood Therapeutics more than doubled Wednesday as the company became the latest biotechnology company to get a powerful response from investors in its stock market debut.
Global Blood says its treatment for sickle cell disease might stop red blood cells from becoming misshapen, treating the disease rather than its symptoms.
The drug, GBT440, is in early clinical testing. As of July 31, it had been given to 30 healthy volunteers and six people with sickle cell disease. The company wants to begin at least one mid-stage trial of the drug early next year.
The offering of 6 million shares were priced at $20 each, raising a greater-than-expected $120 million. The stock surged to a closing price of $43.11, a gain of 116 percent.
FactSet says the company’s market capitalization is now about $3.5 billion, and it’s the third biotech to have its shares more than double in value on their first day of trading this year.
Global Blood, based in South San Francisco, Calif., had expected to price its offering at $16 to $18 per share. Its stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “GBT.”
