Iambic IPO: Biotech backed by Nvidia and Cathie Wood debuts on the Nasdaq

Early trading in shares of Iambic Therapeutics, a biotech that uses AI to develop drugs, is underway on Freedom's client trading platform. Iambic investors include chipmaker Nvidia, as well as a fund managed by Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management. In addition, ARK and Stanley Druckenmiller’s family office have expressed nonbinding interest in buying up to $60 million of stock combined in the IPO. Iambic is set to debut during the Nasdaq regular session later Thursday under the ticker IAM.

Iambic raised $150 million in its Nasdaq IPO, selling 9.38 million shares at $16 apiece, the midpoint of its previously announced range. The offering values the company at $758 million.

Existing investor Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management and billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Family Office had expressed nonbinding interest in purchasing up to $60 million of stock combined, the company stated in its prospectus.

JPMorgan, Jefferies, BofA Securities, and Citigroup led the offering. They received a 30-day option to purchase up to 1.4 million additional shares.

The company plans to spend most of the proceeds on clinical development of its drug candidates. A further portion will go toward its AI platform, including training new versions of the models it uses to create experimental drugs, according to its IPO filings.

Founded in 2019 as Entos, Iambic uses its AI platform to develop cancer drugs. Its founders, scientists and entrepreneurs Tom Miller and Fred Manby, focus on applying technology to chemistry and biology, according to the prospectus.

“I think that AI is a killer app for chemistry,” Miller told Drug Discovery & Development. Designing any molecule, whether a drug, catalyst, or polymer, involves chemistry, which is about optimization in complex environments, he explains. The central challenge in drug discovery is the need to account for numerous parameters, Manby reckons. Iambic’s technology helps identify the most promising compounds and then design molecules.

Its pipeline currently includes three wholly owned drug candidates. The most advanced, IAM1363, is intended to treat cancers associated with mutations in the HER2 gene. This genetic abnormality causes cancer cells to divide uncontrollably, leading to rapid disease progression. Iambic states that its drug candidate penetrates the brain and inhibits tumor cell proliferation.

Another four programs involve partnerships with major drugmakers Takeda, AbbVie, Bayer, and Lundbeck, according to the company’s site. These partnerships generate most of its revenue, Iambic stated in its IPO prospectus. Partnership revenue rose 3.2-fold year over year to $12.75 million in the first six months of 2026.

Iambic has never had trouble raising money, Fierce Biotech writes. Since its founding, it has raised around $461.8 million, including funding from Nvidia and, according to its prospectus, venture capital firms Catalio and Nexus Venture Partners.

The company is well-capitalized by a significant investor syndicate, IPO specialist Donovan Jones notes in a Seeking Alpha post. Iambic had $207.9 million in cash at the end of June. With the IPO priced as planned, Iambic expects to have sufficient funding through the end of 2028, Fierce Biotech reports.

Jones suggests that Iambic could serve as a model for integrating large-scale AI technologies with automated, scalable experimentation in chemistry and biology. He also highlights its broad range of partners. Iambic itself cautions in its prospectus that its approach is new and unproven: it has yet to produce an approved drug, and there is no guarantee that it will.

The main risk is a failure to secure drug approval or weak trial results, either of which could significantly affect the stock price, says Freedom analyst Alem Bektemirov. The house has set a target price of $18.10 per share, implying 13% upside from the IPO price. Its valuation assumes that Iambic will be generating revenue from commercializing its drug candidates by 2031.

Iambic faces all the risks typical of a biopharmaceutical company, from clinical trial failures to future funding needs and competitive pressure, Jones concludes. Although the company is currently well-capitalized, it is entering the most expensive stages of drug development, he cautions.

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Freedom clients can trade Iambic shares before the start of the main U.S. session. Premarket trading will open 2-3 hours early, at 15:30-16:30 Astana time. To start trading, select the symbol IAM on the Freedom trading platform.