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MBX, Zenas And Bicara IPOs Generate Big First Day Returns, But Will They Last?

Most New 2024 Biopharma Offerings Trade Lower Later

 
• By Mandy Jackson

MBX, Zenas and Bicara delivered positive returns in their first days of trading, but that has not always translated to good long-term results for drug developers that launched US IPOs this year.

IPO - acronym from wooden blocks with letters, Initial Public Offering IPO concept
Biopharma IPO gross proceeds total $2.86bn year-to-date • Source: Shutterstock

MBX Biosciences, Inc., Bicara Therapeutics Inc. and Zenas BioPharma Inc. launched initial public offerings in the US late on 12 September that priced in the middle or at the top of proposed price ranges and still saw their valuations rise by single or double digits on 13 September, the first day of trading for all three companies. Unfortunately, first-day performance has not always been a sign of good things to come for biopharmaceutical companies that have launched IPOs in 2024.

Key Takeaways

  • MBX, Zenas and Bicara launched IPOs late on 12 September and saw their stock prices spike on Friday the 13th, their first days of trading.

  • First-day boosts have not always translated into longer-term returns for biopharma IPO investors, however, as first-time offerings so far in 2024 have shown

Ten of the 18 drug developers that priced first-time offerings so far this year gave their IPO investors stable to double-digit returns on their first day as public companies, but as of 16 September only eight of the newly public biopharma firms are trading in positive territory. The average first-day return for the IPO class of 2024 was 6

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