Avalyn Pharma IPO: Novo Nordisk-backed biotech goes public

Preliminary trading in shares of Avalyn Pharma, a biotech company developing inhaled drugs to fight rare respiratory diseases, has begun on the Freedom client trading system. Avalyn is targeting the growing $3.7 billion market for pulmonary fibrosis drugs. Avalyn Pharma securities will appear on the Nasdaq under the ticker AVLN later on April 30.

Avalyn Pharma has successfully raised $300 million in an IPO. The company placed 16.7 mln shares at $18, which corresponds to the upper limit of the previously announced price range. The volume of the offering was increased from the initial 11.8 million securities. Bloomberg sources familiar with the situation said the order book was oversubscribed several times. Based on the IPO results, the value of the whole company can be estimated at $752.6 million, the agency calculated.

The listing was organized by Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, Evercore and Guggenheim Securities.

The list of Avalyn shareholders includes Novo Holdings, the investment arm of the owner of pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk. Before the offering it owned 13% of shares, after - the fund's share is expected to be 8%, Bloomberg adds.

The biotech company's path to IPO was accompanied by a series of large investments: in July 2025 it raised $100 million, earlier, in September 2023 it received $175 million and in April 2020 - $35.5 million. By the beginning of 2026 Avalyn already had $138.5 million in cash at its disposal, which together with the expected proceeds from the IPO will create a strong financial foundation for the realization of all drug development plans, notes the specialized publication BioXconomy.

Avalyn will use the proceeds from the listing for final trials of inhaled forms of well-known blockbuster drugs for the treatment of lung disease.

Boston-based Biotech is developing inhaled drugs and is mainly focused on combating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a rare and severe disease that causes scarring of lung tissue and progressive shortness of breath, Biopharma Dive writes. The average survival rate for such patients is only 3-5 years, Avalyn said in a pre-IPO filing to regulators.

Pulmonary fibrosis affects about 100,000 people in the United States and is currently controlled with three approved drugs. All are in pill form, which limits their effectiveness and causes serious side effects.

Avalyn expects to displace pharmaceutical giants such as Roche and Boehringer by turning their drugs into an inhaled format, explains Biopharma Dive. The company's projects, called AP01 and AP02, deliver the active ingredient directly to the lungs, which enhances the effect and reduces the burden on the whole body. If Avalyn proves that such inhalers are easier to tolerate than traditional pills, it could take a huge share of the market, the publication believes.

The company is now in mid-stage trials, with results expected by the end of 2027. The main candidate, AP01, has already shown positive results in terms of tolerability and efficacy. In addition, Avalyn is preparing a combination version, combining both drugs in one inhaler, and plans to start testing it before the end of the year, writes Biopharma Dive.

The company is headed by Lyn Baranowski, who has a strong background in the treatment of lung diseases. Previously, she worked at Pearl Therapeutics, where she helped create developments that were later bought out by AstraZeneca, one of the largest pharmaceutical organizations, BioXconomy points out.

Avalyn's 2025 net loss widened more than 70% year-over-year to $85.2 million, which is typical for development-stage pharma companies, Bloomberg notes.

The IPO market in early 2026 has been volatile, but investors are showing interest in companies creating new forms of already approved drugs, according to Fierce Biotech. For example, in February 2026, SpyGlass Pharma raised $150 million to develop long-acting eye drops, and Veradermics successfully went public with $256.3 million, it is preparing a tablet version of the hair loss product Rogaine.

Avalyn's advantages include a strong investor mix, experienced management and unique drug forms, says Donovan Jones, an expert at analyst firm IPO Edge. In his estimation, the company is well capitalized, but it will need additional investment to move into the costly stages of clinical trials. Success depends on whether it can prove significant superiority over existing treatments, Jones writes. The general volatility of the biopharmaceutical sector after going public is also worth considering, he reminds us.

Freedom Finance analyst Alem Bektemirov believes that at the offering price of $18 per share, Avalyn's quotation growth potential is 13.3%. Possible refusal to approve its drugs or poor results of clinical trials may significantly affect the share price, he admits. Additional pressure in the future may be exerted by increased competition in the market.

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Freedom clients will be able to get access to Avalyn shares before the opening of the main exchange session. Trading will begin in the early pre-market format 2-3 hours before the opening of the US exchanges (from 15:30-16:30 Astana time). To participate click on ticker AVLN.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor