SNAPSHOT

Biotech IPO window reopens as Agomab and SpyGlass raise $350M in a breakout week

Agomab Therapeutics and SpyGlass Pharma raised a combined $350 million in IPOs, capping the busiest week for biotech stock offerings in about a year.

Why it matters: The successful offerings signal renewed investor appetite for biotech after a prolonged IPO drought, raising hopes that more drug developers could tap public markets.

Backstory: Biotech IPOs have struggled since early 2022 as weak stock performance and risk aversion pushed investors away from life sciences. Last year marked a low point, with just 11 drug developers going public.

Zoom in:

• SpyGlass Pharma raised $150 million. The California-based company develops long-acting, drug-device therapies for eye diseases. Its lead product, BIM-IOL, is an implanted lens designed to treat glaucoma and ocular hypertension and is now in two Phase 3 trials that began last month.

• Agomab Therapeutics raised $200 million. The Belgium-based biotech focuses on immunological diseases. Its most advanced drug, ontunisertib, targets fibrostenosing Crohn’s disease and completed a mid-stage trial in November.

Big picture: The IPOs follow earlier offerings this week from Veradermics ($256M) and Eikon Therapeutics ($381M), bringing total biotech IPO proceeds above $1 billion in a single week.

Yes, but: Eikon’s shares nearly 17% on their first day of trading, showing that investors are still cautious towards biotech stocks.

What’s next: A wave of IPOs is a positive sign for the industry, but long-term success will be built on those stocks trading up in the short term.

SNIPPETS

What’s happening in biotech today?

🩸 Thinner blood: Bayer reported positive Phase 3 results for its experimental blood thinner asundexian, showing a 26% relative reduction in recurrent stroke risk without a significant increase in bleeding, supporting its potential as a secondary stroke prevention therapy. The trial enrolled more than 12,000 patients with prior stroke or high-risk transient ischemic attack, who received asundexian or placebo alongside standard anti-clotting treatment. Bleeding rates were similar between groups. The findings revive optimism for Factor XIa inhibitors, a drug class that has faced prior clinical setbacks but aims to prevent clots with lower bleeding risk.

⏸️ Dosing pause: UniQure has paused dosing in the mid- and high-dose cohorts of its Phase 1/2 trial of AMT-191, an AAV-based gene therapy for Fabry disease, after two patients at a mid-level dose experienced asymptomatic Grade 3 liver enzyme elevations deemed dose-limiting toxicities. Both patients responded to corticosteroids, and no serious adverse events were seen at lower doses, though earlier safety issues were reported at the highest dose. Despite the safety concerns, efficacy signals remain positive, with all dose groups showing increased alpha-galactosidase A levels (an enzyme missing in Fabry’s patients) and six of 11 patients discontinuing enzyme replacement therapy.

💰 Blockbuster potential: Priovant reported strong Phase 2 results for brepocitinib in cutaneous sarcoidosis, marking the first positive placebo-controlled trial in the indication and prompting plans for a Phase 3 study in 2026. In the 31-patient trial, a 45-mg daily dose achieved a 100% response rate across multiple endpoints, with significant improvements over placebo on disease severity measures. Lower-dose patients also showed meaningful benefit. The well-tolerated results build on prior success in dermatomyositis, reinforcing brepocitinib’s potential as a blockbuster TYK2/JAK1 inhibitor.

 🇯🇵 Japan expansion: Eisai has signed an oncology licensing deal with Shanghai Henlius Biotech worth up to $388 million to develop and commercialize the anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody Hetronifly (serplulimab) in Japan, paying $75 million upfront plus potential regulatory and sales milestones and royalties. Hetronifly is already approved in China for multiple solid tumors and is under regulatory review or development in Europe and Japan, including for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer. Eisai cited the drug’s distinct PD-1 binding profile as a differentiator in a competitive but lucrative immuno-oncology market increasingly focused on overcoming resistance.

🏗️ Lab boom: Two major U.K. life sciences real estate projects have advanced in London and Cambridge. In London, planners approved a £1 billion expansion of the London Cancer Hub, adding about 1 million square feet of lab and innovation space and supporting thousands of new jobs. In Cambridge, local authorities approved a land deal enabling long-term growth of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, potentially adding up to 2.4 million square feet of research and innovation space over the coming decades. Together, the projects aim to address space constraints that threaten the U.K.’s ability to scale and retain life sciences companies.

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