Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc. announced Tuesday that it is releasing a lock-up restriction on more than 7,500 of its shares in order to make a donation to a nonprofit. The shares being locked up are held by the Calabasas biotech’s Chief Executive Keith Leonard. The shares will be transferred to the non-profit, which was not named in a statement prepared by Kythera, on Dec. 21, at which point it may sell them. The company did not say what prompted the donation. Kythera went public in October, completing its initial public offering of 5.1 million shares valued at $72.6 million. The money is funding the company’s research for its clinical-stage drug, ATX-101, that aims to reduce fat under the chin. Shares closed up 36 cents, or more than 1 percent, to $26.13 in Wednesday trading on the Nasdaq.
