EPFL spin-off Bicycle Therapeutics floats on Nasdaq

EPFL spin-off Bicycle Therapeutics carried out an IPO this past Wednesday and raised $60.6 million. The proceeds will be used to conduct further clinical trials of its cancer drugs. That makes Bicycle Therapeutics the third EPFL spin-off to go public, following in the footsteps of Logitech and Biocartis. The $60.6 million of fresh capital that Bicycle Therapeutics raised during its IPO - the third by an EPFL spin-off - will help the young firm continue performing clinical trials of its new class of cancer medicines. "Not many European companies go public. But EPFL now counts three listed startups that were founded to market technology developed at the School," says Hervé Lebret, head of EPFL's startup unit. "These exits are the icing on the cake, since EPFL startups usually end up being acquired by other companies, as we saw with Faceshift, Lemoptix and most recently Darix." Since being founded in the UK in 2009, Bicycle has raised nearly $116 million.