The biotech IPO, a nearly forgotten vestige of the startup playbook, has returned in full force.
Four drug companies — Agomab Therapeutics, Eikon Therapeutics, Spyglass Pharma, and Veradermics — went public this week, raising close to $1 billion combined. A fifth company, Generate Biomedicines, filed documents for an initial public offering, or IPO.
The public offerings mark a notable shift in what increasingly appears to be the biotech industry’s turnaround story. After hitting a high in 2021, biotech stocks have struggled, weighed down by economic policies, regulatory uncertainty, and traders’ waning interest in the high costs and low success rate of drug development. As a result, most biotechs have shied away from going public. Just 11 biotechs completed an IPO last year — the lowest number in 15 years.
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