NEW YORK, June 24, 2026, 15:01 (EDT)
- Absci shares jumped roughly 35% in afternoon trading after early safety results for ABS-201, the company’s experimental antibody for hair loss.
- The company set the price for 13.5 million shares at $7.41 apiece, looking to raise about $100 million in gross proceeds.
- The next step is efficacy. Interim proof-of-concept data should arrive in the second half of 2026.
Absci Corporation shares rose Wednesday. The AI drug maker showed early safety data for ABS-201, its candidate antibody for pattern hair loss, and set a $100 million stock offering to pay for further trials.
The stock jumped 35.0% to $10.01 in afternoon action, after hitting $10.97 earlier. Volume came in at about 33.8 million shares.
Absci Corp, based in Vancouver, Washington, said ABS-201 was well tolerated in the single-ascending-dose portion of its first-in-human Phase 1 trial. That stage looks mostly at safety and dosing. As of the June 8 data cutoff, there were no reports of serious side effects. The majority of health problems after dosing were mild, the company said in a regulatory filing.
“We are particularly encouraged by the emerging safety, pharmacokinetic, and immunogenicity profile observed to date,” Chief Medical Officer Ransi Somaratne said. Pharmacokinetics is how a drug moves in the body. Immunogenicity is whether the immune system reacts to the drug. GlobeNewswire
Absci enrolled 32 healthy adults divided into four groups, each getting a single intravenous dose of ABS-201 or placebo at 150 mg, 450 mg, 900 mg, or 1800 mg. The company said the estimated half-life was at least 65 days. That could mean just two or three injections in six months, depending on future data.
Absci has moved into the multiple-dose stage of its trial for people with androgenetic alopecia, or what’s known as male- and female-pattern hair loss. This phase gives repeated subcutaneous injections. The first proof-of-concept data, an early look at whether the drug is having an effect, are due in the back half of 2026. More data should follow in early 2027.
Absci said in a separate statement it has priced 13,495,277 shares at $7.41 apiece. The company expects about $100 million in gross proceeds before underwriting discounts and expenses. All shares in the offering are being sold by Absci.
Eli Lilly and investment funds like Adage, BVF Partners, Columbia Threadneedle, Invus and Redmile joined the deal, the company said. Jefferies, J.P. Morgan, TD Cowen and Guggenheim Securities are the bookrunners. The company expects the offering to close around June 25.
Absci said it will use the net proceeds to fund ABS-201 for androgenetic alopecia and endometriosis, along with general working capital. The company had $125.7 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities at the end of March, according to its May earnings call transcript.
Absci faces established, low-cost competition in hair loss. The company said minoxidil and finasteride are still the only FDA-approved drugs for androgenetic alopecia, but both bring efficacy and side effect concerns. There’s another player in the space: Hope Medicine is developing HMI-115, a prolactin-receptor antibody. HopeMed reported in 2024 that its Phase Ib trial in 16 patients showed an average hair-count gain among men, with founder Rui-Ping Xiao saying “prolactin receptor blockade can promote hair growth in patients with androgenic alopecia.” Absci Corp Hope Medicine
Absci still hasn’t demonstrated that ABS-201 can actually grow hair in a controlled trial. The figures out Wednesday were from a small early study and just show blinded safety data. The company also said that interim or preliminary results might not match the final readout, and issues like delays, trouble enrolling patients, side effects or poor efficacy could halt or slow the program.
