Parabilis IPO: record listing of biotech whose development destroys cancer from within

Preliminary trading in shares of Parabilis Medicines, whose experimental drug can destroy a cancerous tumor from within, has begun on the Freedom client trading system. This listing was a record in the biotech sector in terms of funds raised. Later on June 10, the company's securities will appear on the Nasdaq under the ticker PBLS.

Biotechnology company Parabilis raised $670 million in an IPO on Nasdaq. It placed 33.5 million shares at $20 per piece, while initially stated the price range of $17-19. Thus, the capitalization of the company amounted to $2.3 billion, notes Reuters.

This listing has become the largest in history for biotech companies, writes the portal Fierce Biotech. Until now, the record belonged to the developer of obesity drugs Kailera Therapeutics, which in April this year sold on the stock exchange shares for $625 million.

The organizers of Parabilis IPO were Leerink Partners, BofA Securities, Evercore ISI, Guggenheim Partners, LifeSci Capital. They received a 30-day option to purchase up to 5 million shares of the company.

In a simultaneous private placement, Parabilis sold nearly 4.17 million shares for $18 to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and thus raised about $75 million.

It plans to use the proceeds of the deals to continue ongoing clinical trials, develop molecules for new indications, and for general corporate purposes, among other things, according to Parabilis' IPO prospectus sent to the regulator.

Parabilis was formed in 2015 to develop technology licensed from a Harvard University laboratory. Later, this technology formed the basis of the Helicon platform, with the help of which the company collected, processed and modeled data, and then created constantly learning AI models to search for new molecules and fine-tune them to the target. The company now bases all its developments on this platform.

The key one is called zolucatetide. It is a special kind of proteins that can not only penetrate inside the tumor cell, but also directly affect the flat structures inside. Now about 80% of such formations are inaccessible to modern drugs just because they are inside the cells: some drugs can get there, but are unable to contact the flat structures, another - can interact with them, but does not penetrate into the cells, the company's website says. The advantage of its development is that it combines both approaches and is potentially suitable for the treatment of a very wide range of diseases, she points out.

The developer is now testing zolucatetide in several indications, including the treatment of rare soft tissue tumors, precancerous polyps in the gastrointestinal tract, liver oncology and colorectal cancer. Parabilis plans to initiate a third and final phase III trial of the drug in patients with precancerous polyps in 2027.

Now the company's operations do not bring it revenue, it writes in the prospectus for the IPO. Since its founding, Parabilis has been making net losses: in particular, in 2025 the loss amounted to $145.9 million.

Parabilis' developments are attracting attention from the investment community, with the company announcing an IPO just months after completing its latest, oversubscribed, $305 million Series F funding round, notes genengnews. It was led by investment firms RA Capital Management, Fidelity Management & Research Co. and Janus Henderson Investors. In total, Parabilis has raised more than $800 million since its inception, its filings said.

In May, the day before filing for the offering, the company entered into a $2.3 billion partnership agreement with Regeneron. With this partnership, Parabilis has a high level of credibility, which confirms the efficacy of the company's technology, Lukas Muehlbauer, a research fellow at research firm IPOX, told Reuters. He also calls the increase in offering volume another strong signal that the biotech startup IPO landscape is much improved from last year.

The main risk for the company is disapproval of the drug or weak research results, which could significantly affect the share price and future competition in the market, Freedom Broker analyst Alem Bektemirov said. Freedom set a target price of $20.7 for Parabilis securities, which is 3.5% above the offering price.

HDIN Research cites dependence on China's WuXi AppTec, which sells pharmaceutical substances to Parabilis for drug production, as one of the risks. If the U.S. Biosafety Bill is passed, restrictions could affect this supply chain.

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