Rani Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. (RANI), a San Jose, California-based early stage biopharma, debuted Friday on the Nasdaq in its initial public offering.

Rani Shares Trade Around IPO Price

Rani shares opened for trading at $11.26, above the IPO price of $11. Since then, the stock has traded in a $10.50-$12.17 range. The company offered 6.67 million shares of its Class A common stock through the IPO, which was conducted through an "Up-C" structure.

Rani was initially structured as a LLC, and the "Up-C" structure is a fairly a standard way of taking a LLC public, CEO Talat Imran said in an exclusive chat with Benzinga.

Rani, A Platform Technology Company

Rani's proprietary platform technology, the RaniPill capsule, intends to replace subcutaneous or intravenous injections of biologics with oral dosing. RaniPill helps convert injectable biologic drugs such as TNF-alpha inhibitors, interleukin antibodies, and basal insulin, among others, into pills.

"Our mission is to, at the minimum give an alternative to, and hopefully end injections for patients who have to do that on a chronic basis, Imran said. For IV infusions, a patient has to go to hospitals every time, and in the case of self-injected options, they will have to find vessels every time, he said. 

Rani's Pipeline

Rani has a candidate codenamed RT-10 in Phase 1 development for acromegaly, a hormonal disorder. The company has five preclinical compounds evaluated for different indications. Rani has completed a Phase 1 single-dose study completed in Australia, and a paper has been published on the findings from the preclinical and clinical study, Imran told Benzinga.

The company plans to go to the FDA for guidance on how the future studies should look. In comparison with approved medications, Imran said, Rani's approach to deliver biologics orally yields bioavailability and absorption similar to subcutaneous injections in the range of 40%-80%, depending on the drug.

RT-101 is being evaluated for acromegaly, and Rani expects to run trials for neuroendocrine tumor of the gastrointestinal tract as well as carcinoid syndrome, the CEO said. Imran qualified the market potential for RT-101 in all the three indications as "significant." Rani looks ahead to launching Phase 1 study of para thyroid hormone for the treatment of osteoporosis.

The biopharma has ongoing clinical collaborations with Novartis AG (NVS), among others.

Rani's Cash Runway

Rani is confident that it can achieve the objectives laid down in the prospectus, Imran said. "We have the capital to execute against the plan," the CEO said. "Rani is a mission-driven company and our goal is to take these biologic drugs that have to be injected frequently and turn them into pills and give patients an alternative."

As of Friday's close, Rani shares were down to $10.82.