The IPO class of 2026 is likely to receive its first incumbent, after Aktis Oncology set its sights on a public listing that could see proceeds of around $210m.
The cancer treatment-focused biotech first revealed plans for an IPO in mid-December, but the figure touted then was around the $100m mark. In an updated registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Aktis is offering 11,775,000 shares of common stock at a price between $16 and $18 per share. The company would trade under the ticker “AKTS” on the Nasdaq Global Market.
If the listing goes ahead at the midpoint of that range, Aktis anticipates raising $181.7m in proceeds. If underwriters take up their 30-day option, that value would rise again to $209.6m.
Aktis’ pipeline focuses on radiopharmaceuticals, a type of drug that uses a radioactive isotope with a targeting molecule to destroy cancer cells. The biotech specifically uses alpha radiation that is designed to deliver highly localised radiotherapy to tumours while preventing damage to neighbouring healthy cells.
Its most advanced programme, [225Ac]Ac-AKY-1189, targets Nectin-4 expressing solid tumours. This asset is currently in a Phase Ib trial (NCT07020117) in the US in patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumours. Aktis’ second programme, [225Ac]Ac-AKY-2519, targets B7-H3 expressing solid tumours, such as prostate, lung and breast cancers. Both candidates use the alpha-emitting isotope Actinium-225.
According to the registration form, Aktis intends to use a large portion of the IPO proceeds on the two programmes. Around $140-150m will help fund the Phase Ib trial of AKY-1189, while $70-80m will go towards a planned study evaluating AKY-2519.
Before hitting the US stock exchange, Aktis already has suitors in the big pharma world. Bristol Myers Squibb and MSD’s venture fund joined previous backer Eli Lilly in a $175m series B round in 2024.
In March of the same year, Eli Lilly signed a research collaboration with Aktis worth up to $1.1bn. The deal sees Aktis tasked with generating anticancer radiopharmaceuticals for the US drugmaker.
Aktis’ target suggests that the IPO landscape could be undergoing a resurgence in the biotech sector. A drought in the middle of 2025 was brought to a sharp halt by LB Pharmaceuticals’ $285m listing in September. Neurological disease specialist MapLight Therapeutics followed with a $251m IPO in October, and then by Evoimmune with a $150m listing in November.
