Bellus Health Investor Relations Case Study

Bellus Health

TSX: BLU / Nasdaq: BLU
As of 17 July 2025

From clinical collapse to $2B exit - two mandates, one trusted partner

Client Snapshot

Sector: Healthcare/Biotech
Headquarters: Montreal, Quebec
Two Engagements:
- September 2015 – September 2016
- April 2017 – February 2022
Market Capitalization Range:
- Start (Sep 2015): ~$90 M
- Pre-KIACTA readout peak: ~$200 M
- Post-failure low: ~$15 M
Second engagement start (April of 2017): ~$20M
End of Bristol engagement (Feb 2022): ~$730 M
From limited liquidity to millions of dollars per day
Ultimate outcome: US$2 B acquisition by GSK (Apr 2023)

First Engagement (2015-2016): Building Momentum Behind KIACTA

Bristol Capital was first engaged by Bellus Health in September 2015, during the final stages of a confirmatory Phase 3 clinical trial for its rare kidney disease drug, KIACTA. At the time, Bellus had limited market visibility, a market cap of ~$90M, and minimal research coverage.

Bristol created and executed a tailored investor relations strategy focused on:

Hosting large-scale webinars to introduce the story
Launching targeted roadshows in New York, Toronto, Montreal, Boston, San Francisco and other markets
Facilitating dozens of one-on-one meetings with microcap generalists and specialist biotech investors

This work helped drive market cap up to ~$200M at its peak before the clinical trial failed in late 2016. Following the disappointing outcome, Bellus' valuation declined sharply, and the company initiated a strategic review.

Second Engagement (2017-2022): Rebuilding and Repositioning

In April 2017, with Bellus at a crossroads and its valuation decimated, the company retained Bristol Capital once again. They had just licensed a preclinical asset, BLU-5937, targeting refractory chronic cough, a large unmet indication.

The mandate: rebuild the Bellus brand, reposition the story, and unlock capital markets interest.

At that time, only two firms loosely followed Bellus. Bloom Burton and Mackie Research out of Canada.

Strategy & Execution

Reinvigorating an old and Unlocking a New Investor Base

Bristol reintroduced Bellus to its 7,000+ investor network through a series of webinars and events, highlighting the chronic cough story and pipeline. These drew hundreds of vetted professional investors, many unaware of Bellus' pivot or potential.

Follow-up roadshows across the U.S. and Canada included hundreds of one-on-one meetings, carefully curated to drive traction and long-term support.

Some Capital Markets Milestones

Date	Milestone / Event	Details
Dec 18, 2018	C$35M PIPE	Brokered by Bloom Burton and led by OrbiMed, who first met Bellus via a Bristol webinar. Other participants included New Leaf, First Manhattan, AppleTree, Amzak, Fonds FTQ, and more.
Sep 9, 2019	Uplisting to Nasdaq & US$70M public raise	Led by RW Baird, and supported by other US Investment banks who were introduced to Bellus by Bristol. Investors included many funds first engaged through Bristol's IR work.
Jul 13, 2022	US$153M public offering	Led by Jefferies, Evercore, RBC, LifeSci. Investors included multiple funds first engaged via Bristol's marketing efforts.

Clinical Milestones

Bristol supported Bellus across major clinical stages:

Preclinical development of BLU-5937 (2017)
Phase 1 readouts (2018) confirming taste-sparing profile
Phase 2 SOOTHE trial (2021) with positive efficacy data

Our strategic IR program helped:

Reframe expectations around BLU-5937
Build belief in the new pipeline direction
Educate many generalist and healthcare focused institutional investors
Gain valuable analyst research and investment banking relationships
Unlock the valuation necessary to fund and validate continued development

Final Result: Acquisition by GSK

Summary Takeaways

Bellus scaled from $90M → $200M (2015-16) before a failed trial
Rebuilt from $15M → $730M (2017-22) with new asset and IR overhaul
Uplisted to Nasdaq (2019)
Raised ~US$250M+ across several deals led by RW Baird, Jefferies, Evercore, and others
Grew from 2 covering research firms to 8+
Acquired by GSK for US$2B (2023)

Bristol's second engagement concluded in June 2022 after exceeding all IR objectives. The company's internal team was fully equipped to manage further growth, and Bellus remains a strong reference client for Bristol Capital to this day.