When Elon Musk's SpaceX swept the global headlines with an astronomical IPO, American biotech companies also ushered in a historic moment of going public.

On June 10th, Parabilis Medicines from Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, was listed on NASDAQ with the stock code PBLS. On the first day, the stock price surged by 58%, and the market value exceeded 3.7 billion US dollars.

Based on the IPO pricing, Parabilis raised approximately $670 million (excluding over allotment options and contemporaneous private placements), surpassing Moderna's record of $604 million and Kailera Therapeutics' record of $625 million, making it the largest biotech IPO in US history.

And this record was born after the industry went through a complete cycle from frenzy to freezing point, and then slowly thawed.
According to Pitchbook data, there were 75 biopharmaceutical IPOs in the United States in 2020, 103 in 2021, and a sharp decline in numbers in the following years, reaching a low of only 15 by 2025. So far this year, there have been 12 IPOs that have raised nearly $4.4 billion in total.

What is significantly different from the 2020-2021 IPO boom is that the main players in this round of IPOs are late stage companies with solid clinical data, rather than early-stage companies based solely on concepts. Investors are no longer chasing early popular concepts, but are truly focusing on the company's core values and clinical data itself.

Although the volume of biotech IPOs is far from the same level as SpaceX's $2 trillion valuation, the overall positive sentiment of the public market recovery is beneficial for all industries. When capital is willing to price science again, true innovation will not be buried in the cold winter.

01、 Confidence of a new record creator
 

As a benchmark of this wave of enthusiasm, Parabilis itself is a microcosm of industry recovery.

This company, founded in 2015, completed 7 rounds of financing in the industry's cold winter before its IPO, raising over $876 million in equity and debt financing from top global healthcare VCs such as ARCH Venture Partners, Google Ventures, Fidelity Investments, RA Capital, and Cormorant.

The key to the success of Parabilis lies in its unique "spiral peptide" technology platform, Helicons - a molecular design that can target targets that have long been considered "untreatable".

According to the prospectus, Helicons draws inspiration from nature, stabilizes alpha helices through proprietary crosslinkers, and integrates thousands of non natural amino acids. It attempts to simultaneously possess the precise targeted binding ability of large molecules, as well as the cell penetration and controllability of small molecules.
In other words, Helicons is like giving antibodies a "passport" to enter cells, while retaining a small molecule adjustable "steering wheel".

Based on Helicon ™ On the platform, Parabilis has also built multiple pipelines to reach multiple "non drug" intracellular targets, and extended the application of helical peptides to multiple drug forms such as radioactive nuclide conjugates, targeted protein degradation agents, and antibody helical peptide conjugates (AHCs).

At present, the most core pipeline is zolucateide, a candidate drug that directly targets the interaction between β - catenin and TCF transcription factors (the world's first), targeting tumors driven by the Wnt/β - catenin signaling pathway such as fibroadenoma. It has previously been approved by the FDA's fast track and will initiate phase III clinical trials.

In phase I/II clinical trials targeting the initial indication of fibroadenoma, zolucateide presented an early report that excited capital: as of February 16, 2026, out of 38 enrolled patients, 25 had reached sufficient follow-up evaluation time; All 25 patients observed tumor shrinkage, with a disease control rate of 100%.

In addition, among the 19 patients who underwent at least two baseline scans, the objective response rate reached 74% (14/19), including one case of complete response with a median response time of only 3.8 months.

In terms of safety, there are also differences compared to existing approved therapies. Zolucateide did not observe any grade 3 or higher gastrointestinal, skin, or ovarian toxicity, and the discontinuation rate due to treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) was 0%.

Last month, Parabilis also reached a strategic partnership with Regenerative Element, with the core of the collaboration being the joint development of antibody helic peptide conjugates (AHCs). The partnership covers five targets and targets multiple disease treatment areas, including tumors.

To this end, Regenerative Yuan has paid a non refundable down payment of $50 million, as well as a milestone payment of up to approximately $2.2 billion, and a low double-digit sales share, and has committed to serving as a cornerstone investor in this IPO, simultaneously conducting a $75 million private placement at 90% of the issue price.

In the field of biotechnology, there is nothing more persuasive than a "money vote" from top pharmaceutical companies. The triple increase in cooperation down payment, milestone commitment, and IPO cornerstone investment of Regenerative Yuan together constitute the cornerstone of confidence. The enthusiasm of the secondary market was ignited by this.

02、 The shocking reversal of the IPO market
 

Before Parabilis broke records, Kailera Therapeutics, which debuted on NASDAQ in April this year, briefly topped the list with a total fundraising of $625 million - this company is the overseas NewCo of Hengrui Pharmaceutical's GLP-1 assets.

In May 2024, Hengrui licensed the global equity of its GLP-1 product portfolio outside of Greater China to Kailera under the "NewCo" model, with a cumulative down payment and potential milestone payments of up to $6 billion, while also holding a portion of Kailera's equity.

Between these two large-scale IPOs, inhalation therapy company Avalyn Pharma, depression focused Seaport Therapeutics, and inflammatory disease biotechnology company Odyssey Therapeutics have also tried to enter the public market.

Earlier, a group of distinctive biotechnology companies, including Aktis Oncology, which focuses on nuclear coupled drugs, Generate Biomedicines, which drives AI driven drug discovery, Agomab Therapeutics, which focuses on fibrotic diseases, Eikon Therapeutics, which focuses on neurodegenerative diseases, SpyGlass Pharma, an ophthalmic drug company, and VeraDermics, which specializes in skin disease treatment, completed IPOs.

As of the end of the first half of this year, 12 American biotech companies have completed IPOs, raising nearly $4.4 billion in total.

The arrival of this IPO wave is somewhat unexpected for the market. At the beginning of the year, changes in FDA leadership and the situation in Iran raised doubts within the industry about the market outlook for 2026. However, even though the FDA still does not have a permanent commissioner and geopolitical conflicts continue, biotechnology companies have embarked on the path to market without hesitation.

Industry experts believe that this wave of IPOs originated from the funding drought that lasted for several years after the biotechnology investment boom following the pandemic. According to Pitchbook data, there were 75 biopharmaceutical IPOs in the United States in 2020 and 103 in 2021, but the numbers declined in the following years and hit a low of only 15 by 2025.

The sharp decline in the number of listings has not stopped innovation and scientific progress. Venture capital has filled the gap, allowing many companies to overcome difficult years and produce excellent research results during this period - now, these achievements are gaining renewed attention from investors.

During the pandemic, venture capital funds and major pharmaceutical companies raised billions of dollars to invest in life sciences - but they haven't really made a move, "said Brad Stewart, Managing Director of Life Sciences and Markets at BDO." The funds are there, they just haven't been deployed.

With the opening of the IPO market and the activation of the acquisition market, this long accumulated "capital snowball" has finally found an outlet for release.

What is significantly different from the 2020-2021 IPO boom is that the main players in this round of IPOs are late stage companies with solid clinical data, rather than early-stage companies based solely on concepts. As people become accustomed to entering the public market again, investors are cautiously investing in assets with lower risks, rather than early and short-lived popular companies.

For example, the core pipeline of Parabilis, zolucateide, is about to launch phase III clinical trials; Kailera has advanced the use of riptide injection for the treatment of obesity to Phase III clinical trials worldwide (outside of Greater China); Odyssey's inflammatory disease assets are currently in Phase II clinical trials; Seaport's candidate drugs in the field of depression have also entered the late stage of trials.

In addition to the later data, the scale of recent IPOs has also brought about a qualitative change - more sufficient funds mean that the company has the ability to push assets into the commercial market and develop more than one drug at the same time.

Matt Lane, founder of Milestone Advisors, pointed out that the problem with the previous IPO cycle was that no company raised enough money to create valuable data points. The significance of this IPO is that these companies are now able to raise available capital through the public market. ”

This scale of funding allows the company to truly advance drugs to the commercialization stage, growing from a small biotechnology enterprise to a medium-sized enterprise, developing multiple drugs, introducing candidate products, and feeding back the profits to the industry.

They can create multiple value drivers for investors, no longer constrained by a few private investors, nor do they have to rely on winning the lottery by being acquired by large pharmaceutical companies, "Lane said." If we can see some successful stories of local growth, growing into the next Anjin, Alnylam or Vertex, it will be a good thing for the entire industry.

03、Diversification of exit paths
 

After the craze, the natural question is, will it continue?

Parabilis is a typical representative of the warm welcome it received in the public market after the IPO window reopened, "said Ben Zercher, Senior Analyst at Pitchbook Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals." There are also a large number of companies with exciting assets, in advanced clinical trials, and in need of financial support lining up
The next to appear is Kardigan - the company has planned a $320 million IPO to provide funding for its clinical stage cardiovascular drug pipeline and is scheduled to go public on June 18th (tonight) Eastern Time.

The public market is rewarding companies that are clinically driven and have clear asset stories - I don't think this is a flash in the pan, "Zercher asserted," and there are more companies like Kardigan preparing to go public. "

However, experts also remind that in order to sustain this recovery, early-stage biotechnology companies also need to receive capital inflows. If we want to digest the backlog of promising biotech companies, we need more companies to supplement the market, "Zercher said." The core logic is that these funds should flow back into early-stage investments
In fact, industry insiders are generally optimistic about this year's market. Goldman Sachs previously stated that with the combined boost of improved economic growth, stronger US stocks, and a more relaxed financial environment, the willingness of companies to go public and investors' risk appetite are both on the rise. This year, the number of IPOs in the US is expected to double to 120, with software and healthcare companies leading the IPO pipeline.

Focusing on the field of biotechnology, Matt Lane, founder of Milestone Advisors, predicts that "assuming the biotechnology market synchronizes with the overall IPO market, we may see 30-35 biotechnology companies go public on the US stock market by 2026. "

Brad Stewart, the head of life sciences at BDO, stated that 30 companies are a reasonable baseline, and "the industry would consider this to be a steady year - not a blockbuster, but at least positive.

But IPO is not the only exit path. Morgan Stanley's top banker pointed out to CNBC that although the biotech IPO window is opening, the highest quality companies may still be more inclined to sell themselves to large pharmaceutical companies rather than testing investor willingness in the public market.

In the actual cases they have recently served, investors' selectivity is much higher than during the boom period of the pandemic, and many biotechnology companies adopt a "dual track" process: preparing for IPO while negotiating with potential acquirers. In some cases, companies are ready to go public but are acquired by large pharmaceutical conglomerates before they enter the public market.

The market environment is undergoing significant changes: large pharmaceutical buyers have ample funds and are increasingly willing to make bigger bets, while shareholders are increasingly supporting mergers and acquisitions as a way to drive growth - especially strategic acquisitions that can deepen pipelines or bring synergies, which are receiving unprecedented favor.

For example, GSK's recent acquisition of tumor biotech company Nuvalent for $10.6 billion is an example, marking a shift from traditional "reinforcement" acquisitions to larger scale bets.

The result of this competition is that the competition for the highest quality biotechnology assets is becoming increasingly fierce, especially those with differentiated technologies or assets covering large-scale treatment fields such as tumors, metabolic diseases, and infectious diseases.

Overall, for biotech founders and investors, the opening of the IPO window and the parallel wave of mergers and acquisitions have created a stronger exit market than a year or two ago. But this exit is not a smooth road, nor is it a Single choice question question. Whether it's choosing to ring the bell of the exchange or accepting the olive branch of big pharmaceutical companies - having solid clinical data and differentiated technology platforms is the real ticket to winning this competition.

reference material:
1.FierceBiotech，‘I wouldn’t call it a blip’: Biotech IPOs here to stay after another record-breaking listing
2.FierceBiotech，'When the markets opened, we were ready': Why biotech IPOs are back for 2026
3.CNBC，Biotech IPO window is opening but big pharma M&A still sets the pace, top bankers tell CNBC
4. Medical Insight, creating history, the world's largest biotechnology IPO is born!
5. Pharmaceutical Magic Cube: By 2026, the IPO of biopharmaceuticals in the US stock market will double