IPO Update: 58 Drug Developers Raised $12.5bn Through Q3

The market for biopharmaceutical initial public offerings in the US has grown more impressive in each quarter of 2020 in almost every way. There were nine IPOs in the first quarter, 20 in the second and 29 in the third quarter for a total of 58 first-time offerings by drug developers – eight more than the 50 IPOs for all of 2019. 

Also, the 29 companies that went public in the first two quarters of this year grossed $7.2bn and with 29 more IPOs, the year-to-date gross has reached $12.5bn. (See table below.) While the average return for 2020 offerings still is well into the double digits, it has moderated a bit from 77.1% at the end of the second quarter to 49.4% as of 5 October. This is closer to the average return of 45.1% as of 2 January for the biopharma firms that went public in 2019