Preliminary trading in shares of LB Pharmaceuticals, a startup developing an oral therapy for acute schizophrenia, began Thursday on the Freedom Broker client trading system. The company’s stock, under the symbol LBRX, will be listed later today, September 11, on the Nasdaq.
According to Renaissance Capital, the deal marks the end of the longest pause in U.S. biotech IPO activity in a decade.
Details
LB Pharma has raised $285 million by selling 19 million shares at $15.00 per share. The company was valued at $301.5 million following the deal, which BioPharma Dive described as the largest biotech IPO of the year. Lead underwriters included Leerink Partners, Piper Sandler, and Stifel. The roadshow was accelerated.
The IPO prospectus originally outlined a smaller offering of 16.7 million shares, representing about 83% of total common shares expected to be outstanding post-listing, with an indicated price range of $14-16 per share.
About the company
LB Pharma was founded in 2015 in New York. The company is led by Heather Turner, who previously headed Carmot Therapeutics, which makes diabetes and obesity drugs. In late 2023, Carmot was sold to giant Roche for $2.7 billion.
The company is building its overall strategy around LB-102 and its mission to maximize the commercial opportunity it sees with the asset. It is a modified version of amisulpride, a dopamine inhibitor developed in the 1980s, writes Fierce Biotech. LB Pharma hopes to show that the drug can offer once-daily oral dosing – rather than twice-daily with amisulpride – and efficacy at a lower dose that can reduce the risk of side effects and improve the likelihood that patients will adhere to treatment, pharmaphorum.com reports. Amisulpride was first introduced in the early 1990s in many markets around the world, and was widely used in Europe, although it was never launched in the U.S. because it had a relatively short patent life.
LB Pharma wants to start the third and final phase of clinical trials for LB-102 in the first quarter of next year. It plans to first break into the U.S. schizophrenia market with an FDA approval before expanding to other disorders such as bipolar depression and later developing alternative formulations to lengthen its life cycle and reach, Fierce Biotech reported.
To do this, LB Pharma needs capital. As of June 30, the company had $14 million in cash and an accumulated deficit of $114 million. Along with its existing cash, the proceeds should be enough to fund operations through the first quarter of 2028, the company said.
What analysts say
Seeking Alpha IPO market expert Donovan Jones wrote in late August that he was "cautiously optimistic" about LB Pharma's stock prospects. The company targets a large, growing schizophrenia drug market but faces significant competition from major pharmaceutical firms and startups, Jones said.
The outlook for LB Pharma's planned IPO is bullish, according to a September 8 preview published on the Smartkarma research platform. Analysts noted that demand for shares ahead of the listing exceeded supply, while investor sentiment toward the biotech sector remains favorable. They also pointed out that LB Pharma’s lead drug candidate is advancing to the final phase of clinical trials, supported by what they described as convincing data from earlier studies.
Context
Biotech listings – historically a key driver of U.S. healthcare listings – have slumped this year amid regulatory uncertainty, sidelining many would-be issuers, Reuters writes. Weight-loss drug developer Aardvark Therapeutics was the last notable biotech to raise more than $50 million this year; its shares have nearly halved since their February debut. Apimeds Pharmaceuticals was the most recent biotech to go public in the U.S., completing its IPO in early May. Aurion Biotech and Odyssey Therapeutics both withdrew planned U.S. IPOs earlier this year.
_______________________
Freedom Broker clients will be able to trade Figure 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 LBRX.US on the Freedom platform.
The AI translation of this story was reviewed by a human editor.
