BOSTON, May 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aura Biosciences, Inc. (“Aura”) (Nasdaq: AURA), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing precision therapies for solid tumors designed to preserve organ function, today announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering consisting of (i) 11,735,565 shares of its common stock and accompanying warrants to purchase an aggregate of 2,933,891 shares of common stock and (ii) to certain investors, pre-funded warrants to purchase an aggregate of up to 3,571,435 shares of its common stock at an exercise price of $0.00001 per pre-funded warrant, and accompanying warrants to purchase up to 892,858 shares of its common stock. The common stock and pre-funded warrants are being sold in combination with an accompanying warrant to purchase 0.25 of a share of common stock issued for each share of common stock or pre-funded warrant sold. The accompanying common stock warrant has an exercise price of $4.90 per share, is immediately exercisable from the date of issuance and will expire five years from the date of issuance. The combined offering price of each share of common stock and accompanying common stock warrant is $4.90. The combined offering price of each pre-funded warrant and accompanying common stock warrant is $4.89999.

All of the shares, pre-funded warrants and accompanying common stock warrants in the offering are being sold by Aura. The gross proceeds from the offering to Aura are expected to be $75.0 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses. The offering is expected to close on or about May 16, 2025, subject to customary closing conditions.

Aura intends to use the net proceeds from this offering, together with existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, to advance its clinical programs in early-stage choroidal melanoma, metastases to the choroid, cancers of the ocular surface and non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, as well as for general corporate purposes.

Leerink Partners and Evercore ISI are acting as joint bookrunning managers for the offering. LifeSci Capital is also acting as a bookrunning manager in the offering. Citizens Capital Markets and Scotiabank are acting as co-managers for the offering.

A shelf registration statement relating to the shares of common stock, pre-funded warrants and accompanying common stock warrants offered in the public offering described above was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 27, 2024 and declared effective by the SEC on April 5, 2024. The offering is being made only by means of a written prospectus and prospectus supplement that form a part of the registration statement. A preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to the offering were filed with the SEC on May 15, 2025, and are available on the SEC’s website located at www.sec.gov. A final prospectus supplement containing additional information relating to the offering and an accompanying prospectus will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. When available, copies of the final prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to this offering may also be obtained by contacting: Leerink Partners LLC, Syndicate Department, 53 State Street, 40th Floor, Boston, MA 02109, or by telephone at (800) 808-7525 ext. 6105, or by email at syndicate@leerink.com; Evercore Group L.L.C., Attention: Equity Capital Markets, 55 East 52nd Street, 35th Floor, New York, NY 10055, or by telephone at (888) 474-0200, or by email at ecm.prospectus@evercore.com.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities being offered, nor shall there be any sale of the securities being offered in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

About Aura Biosciences

Aura Biosciences, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing precision therapies for solid tumors that aim to preserve organ function. Aura’s lead candidate, bel-sar (AU-011), is currently in late-stage development for primary choroidal melanoma and in early-stage development in other ocular oncology indications and bladder cancer. Aura is headquartered in Boston, MA. Aura’s mission is to grow as an innovative global oncology company that positively transforms the lives of patients.

Forward-Looking Statements

Various statements in this release concerning the use of proceeds, timing and completion of the public offering on the anticipated terms or at all may constitute forward-looking statements for the purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, and other federal securities laws. All such forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of substantial risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside Aura’s control, that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include fluctuations in Aura’s stock price, changes in market conditions and satisfaction of customary closing conditions related to the public offering, as well as those risks more fully discussed in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the prospectus supplement and registration statement referenced above, Aura’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, filed on March 24, 2025 with the SEC and subsequent filings with the SEC including our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. There can be no assurance that Aura will be able to complete the public offering on the anticipated terms. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All such statements speak only as of the date made, and Aura undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by law.

Investor and Media Contact:

Alex Dasalla
Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
IR@aurabiosciences.com

Source: Aura Biosciences, Inc.