The approval of Ascendis Pharma A/S’ hormone replacement therapy Yorvipath (palopegteriparatide) hypoparathyroidism – the first and only treatment for adults with the rare endocrine disease – did little to sate the market’s appetite for new drugs in the indication, where a number of players are busy in various stages of development.
Cellbion Co. Ltd. debuted on the tech-heavy Kosdaq board of the Korea Exchange Oct. 16, with share prices closing upward at ₩20,650 (US$14.94) – outdoing its initial price of ₩15,000 per share for 1.9 million shares.
Biopharma companies secured $16.31 billion in financing during the third quarter (Q3) of 2024, marking a 29% decrease from the $23.07 billion raised in Q2 and a 65% drop from Q1’s $47.25 billion. Despite the quarterly decline, year-to-date financings through September reached $86.63 billion, surpassing the total annual figures of both 2023 ($70.97 billion) and 2022 ($60.81 billion). Only the record-setting years of 2020 and 2021 saw higher amounts raised.
Coming off September, which saw five biopharma IPOs raise more than $1 billion, two firms priced upsized offerings that could total more than $330 million.
Biopharma financings continued to outperform over the first nine months of 2024, hitting $86.2 billion, a 75% increase from the $49.35 billion raised during the same period in 2023. September alone saw a significant boost from the prior month, with financings more than doubling to $8.7 billion from $3.5 billion in August.
Taiwan’s Caliway Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. raised NT$6.4 billion (US$206 million) in its IPO on the Taipei Stock Exchange, making it the largest IPO in Taiwan’s biotech industry history and valuing the company at nearly $3 billion following the listing.
South San Francisco-based Septerna Inc. filed an S-1 with the U.S. SEC to conduct an IPO on Nasdaq about two years and eight months after launching operations with a $100 million series A led by Third Rock Ventures. The company is focused on G protein-coupled receptor oral small molecules derived from its Native Complex Platform, aimed at treating diseases within the endocrinology, immunology and inflammation, and metabolic diseases realms.
Apimeds Pharmaceuticals US Inc., a subsidiary of Seoul, South Korea-based Inscobee Inc., is “counting down” to an official IPO on the New York Stock Exchange with its S-1 filing showing a targeted offering of $11.5 million.
Three biopharmas debuted on Nasdaq Sept. 13, raising a combined $703 million for two Massachusetts-based companies focused on bifunctional antibodies for autoimmune diseases and cancer, and one Midwestern firm developing peptide therapies for endocrine and metabolic disorders.
Biopharma IPOs have faced tough conditions in recent years, but 2024 is showing signs of improvement in terms of value, while stumbling on overall performance. IPO values remain significantly lower than the peak years of 2020-2021 and are still below collective values seen in 2014-2019, however, this year's value marks a recovery compared to the challenging environment of 2023.
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