Novo-backed schizophrenia drugmaker MapLight Therapeutics debuts on Nasdaq

Early trading in shares of MapLight Therapeutics – a U.S. biotech developing a schizophrenia drug in clinical trials – has started on Freedom's client platform. Because of the U.S. government shutdown, the company used a rarely seen regulatory workaround to go public. The shares will list on the Nasdaq under the ticker MPLT later today, October 27.

MapLight sold 14.75 million shares on the Nasdaq at $17 apiece. In addition, affiliated entities of funds managed by Goldman Sachs intend to acquire about 476,000 shares at the IPO price in a private placement, according to SEC filings. In total, MapLight should raise $258.9 million, Bloomberg reports.

At that price, the company would be valued at $704.3 million.

The offering drew strong demand and was oversubscribed, Investing.com wrote, citing Bloomberg data. Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, Leerink Partners, and Stifel led the deal.

The proceeds will be used to advance MapLight’s portfolio of therapies for neurological diseases.

According to Bloomberg, this IPO may open the door to similar listings using this regulatory workaround. Because the SEC cannot approve new IPOs during the shutdown, MapLight used a rare provision of the Securities Act that allows a registration statement to automatically become effective after 20 days. This requires a fixed price per share – with no option to revise the terms without restarting the 20-day process.

“The downside is that you’re showing your cards publicly in terms of what price you intend to initially list the shares at, and sell the shares at,” said Hillary Holmes, cochair of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s capital markets practice, told Bloomberg. That lack of flexibility may be what is deterring most potential issuers.

MapLight, founded in 2018, develops treatments for schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s-related psychosis, autism spectrum disorders, and Parkinson’s disease. Its lead program for schizophrenia is in mid-stage trials, with results expected in the second half of 2026. The company plans to allocate most IPO proceeds to this program.

For the six months ended June 30, MapLight reported a net loss of $52.2 million versus a $37.3 million loss a year earlier, its SEC filings show.

The company has already attracted pharmaceutical giants as investors – for example, Sanofi and Novo Holdings (the investment arm of Novo Nordisk). It previously raised $372.5 million in a Series D round, but now has $60.5 million in cash left. That round valued the company at $816 million, PitchBook data cited by Bloomberg shows.

After the IPO and private placement, Catalyst4 – a nonprofit founded by Google cofounder Sergey Brin – will reduce its stake from 60.7% to 36.8%. Novo Holdings will trim its interest from 11.6% to 7.1%, and Forbion will go from 6.1% to 3.7%, Bloomberg reports.

"This is an opportunistic move by the company to tap the IPO market and to take advantage of the currently excellent climate for IPOs in general and biotech IPOs in particular," Josef Schuster, CEO of IPO research firm IPOX, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Last month, peer LB Pharmaceuticals – also developing a schizophrenia therapy – listed on the Nasdaq. That deal ended the longest pause in U.S. biotech IPOs in a decade and was viewed favorably at the debut, though its shares now trade only slightly above the IPO price.

Optimism in the schizophrenia segment has surged since the FDA’s September 2024 approval of Bristol Myers Squibb’s Cobenfy – the first new schizophrenia drug in decades, notes industry publication Pharmaceutical Technology. Cobenfy is projected to generate $3.8 billion in annual sales by 2031, according to GlobalData.

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Freedom Broker clients will be able to trade MapLight Therapeutics 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. Investors can participate by selecting the ticker MPLT.US on the Freedom platform.

The AI translation of this story was reviewed by a human editor.