The market for initial public offerings (IPOs) is finally recovering from the market swoon that dogged biopharma from late 2015 into the start of this year when a rebound became clear.
Arguably, the first sign of recovery came in November, when South Korea’s Samsung Biologics completed a $2 billion initial stock sale. South Korea is also the site of the year’s biggest IPO to date, the KRW 1 trillion ($886 million) first-time offering of Celltrion, which launched July 3.
In between those offerings are more than two dozen IPOs that have emerged between January and June, and thus eligible for ranking on this list. While most of these offerings were launched on U.S. markets by U.S. companies, numerous companies making this year’s GEN list of Top 20 Biopharma IPOs for the first half of this year are based outside the U.S.—including the top two companies, both in Asia, six of the top 10 companies and nine of all 20 companies listed here.
Within the U.S., the region with the largest number of top money-raising IPOs is Cambridge, MA, with three. Three U.S. regions known for their leading biopharma clusters each saw a pair of top IPOs during the first half—San Diego, New York City, and Raleigh-Durham, NC (including Research Triangle Park, NC). So too did China. The remaining IPOs are spread out, with companies based in Ahmedabad, India; Buffalo, NY; Geneva, Switzerland; London, England; New Haven, CT; Raanana, Israel; Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Stockholm, Sweden; and Vancouver, BC.
Below is a list of the 20 largest biotech IPOs that were completed, or at least began trading shares, as of June 30. Each IPO is listed by name of the company, the amount raised (usually net proceeds), date of completion, number of shares sold, and price per share, trading symbol and market(s) where shares are traded. Non-U.S. currency has been converted to U.S. dollars.
Not included are pending IPOs that have been filed by companies but have yet to be priced or commence trading, as well as IPOs that have been publicly discussed—whether by executives or in news reports—but not yet filed.
As with the Samsung Biologics and Celltrion initial offerings, many of the pending IPOs would have been large enough to warrant inclusion on this list had they been launched during the first half of 2017.
#20. BeyondSpring
Market (Symbol): NASDAQ Capital Market (BYSI)
Amount: $48.17 million in net proceeds 1
Date: March 9
Shares/Price per share: 2,715,334 shares at $20 1
#19. Aileron Therapeutics
Market (Symbol): NASDAQ Global Market (ALRN)
Amount: Approximately $50.2 million in estimated net proceeds 2
Date: June 29
Shares/Price per share: 3.75 million shares at $15 2
#18. Athenex
Market (Symbol): NASDAQ Global Select Market (ATNX)
Amount: Approximately $55.8 million in estimated net proceeds 3
Date: June 14
Shares/Price per share: 6 million shares at $11 3
#17. UroGen Pharma
Market (Symbol): NASDAQ Global Market (URGN)
Amount: Approximately $59.7 million in estimated net proceeds 4
Date: May 4
Shares/Price per share: 5,144,378 shares at $13 4
#16. Zymeworks
Market (Symbol): New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange (ZYME)
Amount: $63,628,071 in gross proceeds 5
Date: April 28
Shares/Price per share: 4,894,467 shares at $13 5
#15. Ovid Therapeutics
Market (Symbol): NASDAQ Global Select Market (OVID)
Amount: Approximately $67 million in net proceeds
Date: May 5
Shares/Price per share: 5 million shares at $15
#14. Mersana Therapeutics
Market (Symbol): NASDAQ Global Select Market (MRSN)
Amount: Approximately $67.5 million in estimated net proceeds 6
Date: June 28
Shares/Price per share: 5 million shares at $15 6
#13. Dova Pharmaceuticals
Market/Symbol: NASDAQ Global Market (DOVA)
Amount: Approximately $67.9 million in estimated net proceeds 7
Date: June 29
Shares/Price per share: 4.415 million shares at $17 7
#12. AnaptysBio
Market (Symbol): NASDAQ Global Select Market (ANAB)
Amount: Approximately $80.2 million in net proceeds 8
Date: January 26
Shares/Price per share: 5.75 million shares at $15 8
#11. Verona Pharma
Market (Symbol): NASDAQ Global Market (VRNA) 9
Amount: Approximately $80.5 million in estimated net proceeds 10
Date: April 27
Shares/Price per share: 6,501,738 American Depositary Shares at $13.50 10
#10. Oncopeptides
Market (Symbol): NASDAQ Stockholm (ONCO)
Amount: SEK 681 million ($83.9 million) in net proceeds 11
Date: February 22
Shares/Price per share: 14.1 million shares at SEK 46 ($5.67) 11
#9. ObsEva
Market (Symbol): NASDAQ Global Select Market (OBSV)
Amount: Approximately $86.8 million in net proceeds
Date: January 25
Shares/Price per share: 6.45 million shares at $15
#8. Tocagen
Market (Symbol): NASDAQ Global Select Market (TOCA)
Amount: $86.9 million in estimated net proceeds 12
Date: April 13
Shares/Price per share: 9.775 million shares at $10 12
#7. Argenx
Market (Symbol): Euronext Brussels and NASDAQ Global Select Market (ARGX)
Amount: Approximately $103.4 million in estimated net proceeds 13
Date: May 18
Shares/Price per share: 6,744,750 American Depositary Shares at $17 13
#6. Jounce Therapeutics
Market (Symbol): NASDAQ Global Select Market (JNCE)
Amount: $106.5 million in net proceeds 14
Date: January 27
Shares/Price per share: 7,319,750 shares at $16 14
#5. G1 Therapeutics
Market (Symbol): NASDAQ Global Select Market (GTHX)
Amount: Approximately $108.6 million in net proceeds 15
Date: May 17
Shares/Price per share: 7,781,564 shares at $15 15
#4. Tiansheng Pharmaceutical Group
Market (Symbol): Shenzhen Stock Exchange (002872)
Amount: RMB 1.079 billion ($160.5 million) in net proceeds
Date: May 19
Shares/Price per share: 53 million shares at RMB 22.37 ($3.33)
#3. Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding
Market (Symbol): New York Stock Exchange (BHVN)
Amount: $176.367 million in net proceeds 16
Date: May 4
Shares/Price per share: 11.385 million shares at $17 16
#2. Eris Lifesciences
Market (Symbol): National Stock Exchange of India (ERIS)
Amount: Rs. 17.41 billion ($273.7 million) in gross proceeds 17
Date: June 16
Shares/Price per share: 28.875 million shares at Rs. 600 to Rs. 603 ($9.43 to $9.48) 17
#1. WuXi Biologics
Market (Symbol): Hong Kong (2269)
Amount: Approximately HK$3.905 billion ($499.9 million) in net proceeds 18
Date: June 13
Shares/Price per share: 221,959,500 shares at HK$20.60 ($2.64) 18
References
- Offering consists of IPO of 174,286 ordinary shares and the sale of an aggregate of 2,541,048 ordinary shares, both offered at the IPO price. Company offered its net proceeds estimate in its Form 20-F for 2016, which included information on the combined offering and was filed April 28.
- Aileron has granted the underwriters of its IPO a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 562,500 shares of common stock from the company at the IPO price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions. If the underwriters exercised that option in full, Aileron has estimated that its net proceeds would rise to approximately $58 million, from the approximately $50.2 million estimated for the original offering of 4.415 million shares.
- Athenex has granted the underwriters of its IPO a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 900,000 shares of common stock from the company at the IPO price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions. If the underwriters exercised that option in full, Athenex has estimated that its net proceeds would rise to approximately $64.9 million, from the approximately $55.8 million estimated for the original offering of 6 million shares.
- Includes an additional 671,005 shares of common stock, for which underwriters exercised in full their 30-day over-allotment option to purchase from the company at the same price per share. Company offered its net proceeds estimate in its prospectus, filed May 5.
- Includes partial exercise by underwriters of the over-allotment option for an additional 394,467 common shares at the IPO price, which raised an additional $5,128,071 in gross proceeds, Zymeworks said. The company’s announcements do not include net proceeds figures, which may be disclosed when first-half 2017 financial results are released. The underwriters could have purchased up an additional 675,000 common shares at the IPO price.
- Mersana has granted the underwriters of its IPO a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 750,000 shares of common stock from the company at IPO price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions. If the underwriters exercised that option in full, Aileron has estimated that its net proceeds would rise to approximately $78 million.
- Dova has granted the underwriters of its IPO a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 662,250 shares of common stock from the company at the IPO price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions. If the underwriters exercised that option in full, Dova has estimated that its net proceeds would rise to approximately $78.4 million, from the $67.9 million estimated for the original offering of 4.415 million shares.
- Includes an additional 750,000 shares of common stock, for which underwriters exercised in full their 30-day over-allotment option to purchase from the company at the same price per share. Company offered its net proceeds information in its Form 10-K for 2016, which included information on the offering and was filed March 8.
- Company shares were already traded on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, under the symbol VRP, at the time it filed for the IPO in the U.S.
- Includes partial exercise by underwriters of the over-allotment option for an additional 733,738 American Depositary Shares at the IPO price. The underwriters could have purchased up to an additional 865,200 ADSs at the IPO price. Had the underwriters exercised that option in full, Verona has estimated it would have gained approximately $82.1 million in net proceeds in its prospectus, in which the company also estimated its net proceeds for the original offer at $71.3 million. The furnished estimate consists of the original estimate plus 84.8% of the difference between the two estimates, since the over-allotment was 84.8% of the potential total.
- Includes an additional 977,906 shares of common stock, for which underwriters exercised in full their 30-day over-allotment option to purchase from the company at the same price per share.
- Includes an additional 1.275 million shares of common stock, for which underwriters exercised in full their 30-day over-allotment option to purchase from the company at the same price per share. Company offered its net proceeds estimate in its Form 10-Q for the first quarter, filed May 23.
- Includes an additional 879,750 American Depositary Shares, for which underwriters exercised in full their 30-day over-allotment option to purchase from the company at the same price per share.
- Includes an additional 954,750 shares of common stock, for which underwriters exercised in full their 30-day over-allotment option to purchase from the company at the same price per share. Company offered its net proceeds estimate in its Form 10-Q for the first quarter, filed May 9.
- Includes partial exercise by underwriters of the over-allotment option for an additional 781,564 common shares at the IPO price. The underwriters could have purchased up to an additional 1.05 million common shares at the IPO price. Had the underwriters exercised that option in full, G1 has estimated that its net proceeds would have been $110.4 million, according to its prospectus, filed May 17.
- Includes an additional 1.485 million shares of common stock, for which underwriters exercised in full their 30-day over-allotment option to purchase from the company at the same price per share.
- Net proceeds unavailable. Figure does not include the company’s sale of shares to 21 anchor investors, which yielded Rs. 7.79 billion ($122.4 million)
- Includes an additional 28,947,000 shares, for which underwriters exercised in full their 30-day over-allotment option to purchase from the company at the same price per share. Net proceeds include the HK$3.329 billion of the original offer plus the HK$575.4 million of the over-allotment, and were furnished by the company in filings with the Hong Kong stock exchange.