On April 28, 2022, Belite Bio, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical drug development company, announced the pricing of its initial public offering of six million American Depositary Shares (ADSs) at a public offering price per ADS of $6.00. Each ADS represents one ordinary share of Belite. In addition, Belite has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase an additional 900,000 ADSs at the initial public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. Lin Bioscience International Ltd., the company’s principal shareholder, agreed to purchase $15.0 million of ADSs in the offering. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati advised Belite Bio on intellectual property matters related to the transaction.

In connection with the offering, Belite’s ADSs have been approved for listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The ADSs began trading on April 29, 2022, under the ticker symbol “BLTE.” The offering closed on May 3, 2022. The gross proceeds to Belite from the offering, before deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses, are expected to be $36 million. Belite expects to use the net proceeds to fund the Phase 3 clinical trial of its lead candidate, LBS-008, for Stargardt disease (an inherited juvenile form of macular degeneration) and for further clinical development of LBS-008 for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), working capital, and other general corporate purposes.

Founded in 2016, San Diego, California-based Belite Bio targets untreatable age-related metabolic diseases, including macular degeneration, liver disease, and diabetes. Wilson Sonsini has handled all IP matters for Belite since the company’s inception.

The Wilson Sonsini team advising Belite on intellectual property matters related to the IPO was led by Deborah Smith, Sean Reed, and Matt Bresnahan.

For more information, please see Belite’s press release.