After withdrawing plans for an IPO last year, Orum Therapeutics Inc. made its debut on the Korea Exchange in 2025 with a ₩50 billion (US$34.7 million) raise as South Korea’s first biopharma IPO of the year.
Sionna Therapeutics Inc. has opened on Nasdaq in the year’s fourth IPO, this one priced at the upper end of its original per-share range at $18. The cystic fibrosis therapy developer is looking for gross proceeds of about $191 million by offering 10.58 million shares of common stock. On Feb. 7, shares (NASDAQ:SION) closed the day 39% upward at $25.
Biopharma companies secured $5.91 billion across 93 transactions in January 2025, a continuing upward swing from $4.69 billion in December and $3.6 billion in November 2024.
A week after the first IPO of the year was priced, obesity treatment developer Metsera Inc. and renal specialist Maze Therapeutics Inc. have begun trading on Nasdaq. Metsera (NASDAQ:MTSR) surged 47% on Jan. 31 to close at $26.50 per share while Maze (NASDAQ:MAZE) barely budged, closing three-tenths of a percentage point lower on the day.
The final tally shows U.K. biotechs raised £3.5 billion (US$4.35 billion) in 2024, a stonking 93% more than in 2023, and surpassing the total in 2020, before the life sciences investment boom sparked by the pandemic. Of this, £2.1 billion was in venture capital, a 64.8% increase on 2023, while U.K biotechs attracted £1.5 billion in follow-on offerings, most of it raised by companies listed on Nasdaq.
Biopharma financings saw their third highest year, with companies collectively raising $102.15 billion in 2024, behind only 2020 and 2021. The amount marked a 44% jump from $70.97 billion in financings in 2023 and a 68% increase from $60.81 billion in 2022. The fourth quarter (Q4) contributed $15.45 billion, the lowest quarter of the year, following $16.38 billion in Q3, $23.07 billion in Q2, and a strong $47.25 billion in Q1.
Ascentage Pharma Group Corp. Ltd. has priced the first IPO of the year in the U.S. The offering of 7.32 million shares has the Suzhou, China, and Rockville, Md.-based company looking for gross proceeds of about $126.4 million, assuming a price of $17.25 per share.
Modest signs of recovery were seen in the biopharma IPO market in 2024, though activity remains significantly below the levels seen during the 2018-2021 boom. In 2024, 32 biopharma companies went public, a slight increase from 27 in 2023 but a decline from 35 in 2022. These figures pale in comparison to the peak years, with 134 IPOs in 2021, 106 in 2020 and even 65 in 2019. Both the total value and volume of IPOs continue to lag far behind those earlier highs.
Biopharma companies secured $102.15 billion in funding in 2024, a 44% increase from $70.97 billion in the full-year 2023 and significantly higher than the $60.81 billion raised in 2022. December financings reached $4.69 billion, marking an increase from $3.6 billion in November.