Odyssey Therapeutics is unlikely to join the 2025 class of biotechs hitting the stock exchanges after the company withdrew its registration statement for an initial public offering (IPO).
The autoimmune and inflammatory disease specialist was one in a wave of biotechs to reveal IPO ambitions in January 2025. While Sionna Therapeutics, a biopharma that filed IPO paperwork at the same time, went on to close a nearly $220m IPO in February, Odyssey has bailed on a public listing.
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Odyssey did not disclose the number of its common stock shares it was offering, nor the price at which the IPO would conduct on each share. The Form S-1, a registration form with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for companies carrying out public offerings, only mentioned that the listing would have occurred on the Nasdaq.
Odyssey was eyeing an IPO as a way to fund its pipeline, headed by RIPK2 inhibitor OD-07656 that was set for Phase II trials for ulcerative colitis treatment, both as a monotherapy and in combination with Takeda’s blockbuster Entyvio (vedolizumab). As per its IPO prospectus in January, the monotherapy trial was set to commence in Q1 2025, with the combo trial slated for the same quarter in 2026. Two pre-clinical programmes also stood to benefit from cash generated from the IPO.
In its notice to the SEC outlining the withdrawal of the registration statement, Odyssey stated it is because it is “not in the best interests of the company to conduct the proposed offering at this time”.
The IPO U-turn is the first sign that the health of the IPO landscape could be suffering in the wake of economic fallout from US President Donald Trump’s policies. Indeed, it consolidates predictions made by one GlobalData analyst earlier this year.
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By GlobalDataIn 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.
“Additionally, Trump’s recent tariff announcement on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China has led to increased market volatility, potentially delaying IPOs as investors await the countries’ responses to the tariffs.”
Biotech IPOs saw a strong recovery in 2024, with a total raise of $8.52bn, up 68.4% from $5.06bn raised in 2023. It was the highest total IPO value raised since 2021, with the rebound driven by US Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. The uptick continued into 2025, with Sionna joined by Maze Therapeutics and Metsera Therapeutics.
U-turning on IPOs is rare, but Odyssey is not the only biotech to bail on a public listing in the past year. Australian biotech Telix Pharmaceuticals withdrew its US public listing at the last minute in June 2024, also citing unfavourable market conditions at the time.
