Oruka Therapeutics Raises $700 Million Following Breakthrough Psoriasis Trial Results
Menlo Park, Wednesday, 29 April 2026.
Capitalizing on clinical trials where 63.5% of patients achieved complete skin clearance, Oruka Therapeutics upsized its public offering to $700 million to challenge existing blockbuster psoriasis treatments.
The Upsized Offering and Financial Runway
On Tuesday, April 28, 2026, Menlo Park-based Oruka Therapeutics (Nasdaq: ORKA) announced the pricing of a massive 9.66 million share public offering at $72.50 per share [1][8]. Originally proposed as a $500 million raise just a day prior [6], overwhelming market enthusiasm allowed the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company to upsize the base offering to approximately $700.4 million in gross proceeds [1][8]. The underwriting syndicate, led jointly by Leerink Partners, TD Cowen, Goldman Sachs, Stifel, and Guggenheim Securities, was also granted a 30-day option to purchase an additional 1.449 million shares [1][8]. If this overallotment is fully exercised, it would add 105.052 million dollars to the gross proceeds [GPT]. The offering is scheduled to close tomorrow, April 30, 2026, subject to customary closing conditions [1][8].
Clinical Catalyst: The EVERLAST-A Trial
The catalyst driving this aggressive capital strategy was the release of highly anticipated Phase 2a data for ORKA-001 on April 26, 2026 [2]. ORKA-001 is a half-life extended monoclonal antibody designed to inhibit the interleukin-23 (IL-23) p19 subunit, a known driver of inflammation in plaque psoriasis [2][3][5]. The EVERLAST-A trial randomized 84 patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis across 26 sites in the United States and Canada, administering a 600-milligram dose of ORKA-001 or a placebo at Week 0 and Week 4 [2].
Disrupting an $18 Billion Market
These clinical metrics position Oruka to directly challenge established heavyweights in the immunology sector, most notably AbbVie and its blockbuster drug, Skyrizi [3][4]. Last year, Skyrizi generated $17.6 billion in sales across various indications [3][4]. According to clinical data cited in Skyrizi’s FDA label, the drug achieved complete skin clearance in up to 51 percent of patients [3]. Oruka’s 63.5 percent clearance rate represents a 12.5 percentage point numerical advantage over Skyrizi’s historical benchmark [2][3]. Analysts at Jefferies noted that a mere 10 percent improvement in skin clearance rates is enough to alter clinical prescribing practices, leading them to forecast that ORKA-001 could eventually capture between $5 billion and $10 billion in peak sales [3].
Looking Ahead: Phase 3 and Pipeline Expansion
With its war chest now fortified, Oruka is charting an aggressive path forward. The company expects to release longer-term data from the EVERLAST-A trial—including 28-week efficacy and a 52-week follow-up for a subset of patients—in the second half of 2026 [2]. Looking further ahead, data from the Phase 2b EVERLAST-B trial is anticipated in 2027 [2]. Dr. Klein has already signaled that the forthcoming Phase 3 trials may employ an active comparator design, suggesting a potential head-to-head clinical showdown against existing market leaders [3].