--- title: 'Life Sciences Daily Summary: What Happened on October 24, 2026' headline: Lycia raises $317.5 million in IPO as shares jump 67% description: Gilead agreed to pay PepStar $1.275 billion upfront for its early-stage oral drug program. Five-year melanoma data favored combination therapy. url: https://thebench.bio/news/summaries/2026-10-24 topic: all date: '2026-10-24' covers: - '2026-10-24' date_published: '2026-10-24T12:02:09Z' date_modified: '2026-10-24T12:02:09Z' tags: - Industry - Clinical - Funding sources: 8 publisher: TheBench.Bio --- # Life Sciences Daily Summary: What Happened on October 24, 2026 **Lycia raises $317.5 million in IPO as shares jump 67%** Gilead agreed to pay PepStar $1.275 billion upfront for its early-stage oral drug program. Five-year melanoma data favored combination therapy. ## Today in brief Lycia raised $317.5 million in an upsized IPO, with shares closing 67% above the $18 offering price. [1] A five-year analysis found continued survival and progression-free survival benefits with relatlimab plus nivolumab over nivolumab alone in advanced melanoma. [2] Gilead agreed to pay PepStar $1.275 billion upfront for worldwide rights to its oral IL-23 receptor inhibitor program. [3] [4] Enhertu failed as a neoadjuvant treatment for early breast cancer. [5] ## Lycia raises $317.5 million in IPO, shares close 67% higher Lycia priced its upsized IPO at the top of its proposed range, raising $317.5 million at $18 a share. [1] The shares reached $36.49 during the session and closed 67% above the offering price. [1] The offering valued Lycia at $990.6 million. After the first-day gain, its valuation rose to nearly $1.7 billion. [1] Lycia plans to use the proceeds to support three protein-degrading drug candidates for allergic conditions and Graves’ disease. [6] ## Five-year melanoma analysis favors relatlimab plus nivolumab In the Phase 3 RELATIVITY-047 trial, relatlimab plus nivolumab continued to outperform nivolumab alone for progression-free, overall and melanoma-specific survival at five years. [2] The analysis included 714 patients, with a minimum follow-up of 57.3 months. [2] The hazard ratios were 0.77 for progression-free survival, 0.78 for overall survival and 0.71 for melanoma-specific survival. [2] The safety profile remained consistent with earlier reports. [2] Among patients whose tumors had at least 1% PD-L1 expression, higher levels of LAG-3-positive CD8 cells were associated with worse outcomes on nivolumab alone. [2] Adding relatlimab was associated with less primary resistance. The authors said the findings support the possibility that it can overcome resistance mediated by LAG-3. [2] ## Gilead pays $1.275 billion upfront for PepStar’s oral drug program On October 22, Gilead agreed to pay PepStar $1.275 billion upfront for worldwide rights to its oral interleukin-23 receptor inhibitor program, including HCXT-2001. [3] [4] The lead candidate is a macrocyclic peptide in Phase 1 testing in healthy volunteers in Australia. [3] [4] HCXT-2001 has not yet produced clinical efficacy data. [3] [7] Gilead said it sees potential to develop the drug alone or with its oral integrin inhibitor emvistegrast for inflammatory bowel disease. [4] [8] In a Phase 2 ulcerative colitis study, emvistegrast produced a clinical response at 12 weeks in 66% of patients on the highest dose, compared with 37% on placebo. [4] [7] Combining it with HCXT-2001 remains a potential approach, not a tested regimen. [4] ## Also worth knowing - Enhertu failed as a neoadjuvant treatment for early breast cancer. [5] ## The day in numbers - **$317.5 million**: Lycia’s IPO proceeds [1] - **67%**: Lycia shares’ gain over the $18 offering price at Friday’s close [1] - **5 years**: Follow-up period for the RELATIVITY-047 survival analysis [2] - **$1.275 billion**: Upfront payment Gilead agreed to make for PepStar’s drug program [3] [4] ## Sources 1. [After Lycia’s aftermarket surge, more biotechs look to NASDAQ: Finance Report](), BioCentury, 2026-10-24 2. [Relatlimab plus nivolumab versus nivolumab for advanced melanoma: 5-year survival and biomarker analyses of the phase 3 RELATIVITY-047 trial](), Nature Medicine, 2026-10-24 3. [Limited competition behind Icotyde may help justify Gilead’s $1.3B PepStar deal](), BioCentury, 2026-10-24 4. [Gilead to Buy Oral IL-23R Peptide HCXT-2001 for $1.275 Billion](), BioPharm International, 2026-10-23 5. [ESMO26: Neoadjuvant Enhertu fails in early breast cancer](), pharmaphorum, 2026-10-24 6. [Protein degrader specialist Lycia prices $318M IPO](), BioPharma Dive, 2026-10-23 7. [Gilead to Pay $1.3B for Oral Peptide That Could Rival J&J’s New Immunology Pill](), MedCity News, 2026-10-23 8. [Gilead spends $1.28bn on PepStar’s potential Icotyde rival ](), Pharmaceutical Technology, 2026-10-23 --- TheBench.Bio wrote this from the reporting cited above, with a language model drafting and editing. [1]: [2]: [3]: [4]: [5]: [6]: [7]: [8]: