US-based biotech LB Pharmaceuticals has broken the 2025 biotech initial public offering (IPO) drought – and with style – raising $285m via a public listing on the US stock market.
The company, which is developing treatments for schizophrenia, is offering 19 million shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $15 each. It marks an upsized offering, given LB Pharmaceuticals had originally outlined 16.7 million earlier this week.
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The $285m could increase by $42.7m if underwriters take an additional 2.85 million shares at the same price.
LB Pharmaceuticals began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker LBRX on 11 September, with the offering expected to close on 12 September.
The funds gained from the IPO will be put towards LB’s lead candidate LB-102, an oral schizophrenia treatment. LB-102 is a derivative of amisulpride, an antipsychotic medicine already marketed by Sanofi under the brand Solian in more than 50 countries. Speaking in a prospectus ahead of its IPO, the biotech claims its drug takes on a “differentiated therapeutic profile”.
In January 2025, LB unveiled top-line data from a phase II study that met its primary endpoint of a statistically significant change from baseline in the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score at 4 weeks.
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By GlobalDataLB previously said it expects to spend $133m of the IPO funds on a phase III study of LB-102 in schizophrenia, while another $25m will be used to support a phase II trial in bipolar disorder. The company did not disclose an updated investment allocation based on the upsized offering.
LB’s listing marks a revival in the 2025 biotech IPO landscape, with no companies making the public jump with a sizeable raise since February, which is when Aardvark Therapeutics completed a $94m offering.
The year started with optimism on the back of a 2024 that showed signs of recovery, with a heap of companies conducting IPOs in January. The pick of the bunch was obesity biotech Metsera, with a $275m listing on the Nasdaq. Renal and metabolic drug-focused company Maze Therapeutics, meanwhile, raised $140m on the same day.
As always, however, market volatility due to macroeconomic policy shifts in the US has created an unpredictable IPO landscape. Autoimmune and inflammatory disease specialist Odyssey Therapeutics bailed on a planned IPO in June 2025, citing poor market conditions.
US cell and gene therapy biotech Medera’s CEO Ronald Li told Pharmaceutical Technology earlier this month that the company is still waiting for the right market window. Medera had originally touted the idea of an IPO in September 2024 via a $623m deal with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Keen Vision.
In April, GlobalData business fundamentals analyst Alison Labya said: “The Trump administration has introduced uncertainty to the biopharmaceutical industry across healthcare policies, drug pricing reforms, and regulatory frameworks, all of which could impact investor confidence.”
