Educational guide
Two biotechs raise a combined $556M in latest spurt of IPOs
Blood disease specialist Hemab Therapeutics and brain drug developer Seaport Therapeutics both priced initial public offerings on Thursday evening, hauling in a combined $556.4 million to fund the advancement of their respective drug therapies into late-stage
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Blood disease specialist Hemab Therapeutics and brain drug developer Seaport Therapeutics both priced initial public offerings on Thursday evening, hauling in a combined $556.4 million to fund the advancement of their respective drug therapies into late-stage clinical testing. Hemab raised $301.5 million in its offering, selling nearly 17 million shares at $18 apiece, more than what the biotechnology firm originally set out to sell. Hours before the IPO, Hemab disclosed in a securities filing that it had upped the size of its offering by 27%, a move that would have added $50 million in to its coffers. It ultimately secured even more than that. Seaport also surpassed its IPO projections in collecting $254.9 million. The company sold more than 14 million shares at $18 each and, in pricing its offering, became the first biotech focused on neurological disorders to go public in 2026. Hemab and Seaport will begin trading Friday under the respective ticker symbols “COAG” and “SPTX.” Like Avalyn Pharma , a lung disease drugmaker that debuted on Wednesday, Hemab and Seaport are adding to a notable stretch of larger-than-usual IPOs. So far in 2026, ten companies have banked almost $3.2 billion in total, a pace eclipsing what’s been seen in the last few years. Six of those biotechs secured at least $300 million — an uncommon occurrence since the market peaked during the pandemic — and two topped $400 million, according to BioPharma Dive data. Many of those going public this year also raised at least $300 million in venture funding and had medicines in mid-stage testing or later prior to their stock sales — a reflection of the prolonged downturn that forced many young drugmakers to stay private for longer. Even with the trio of IPOs this week, the sector is on track to complete around two dozen offerings in 2026, similar to what’s occurred in most years since 2022. Yet some investors suspect IPOs to become more broadly available amid a broader resurgence for biotech. “As the market continues to perform, we should see more companies pursuing the IPO route, including smaller offerings and potentially earlier-stage or higher-risk opportunities,” Antoine Papiernik, managing partner and chairman of venture capital firm Sofinnova Partners, told BioPharma Dive earlier this year . Hemab has two experimental medicines in testing for blood diseases. The most advanced is sutacimig, a bispecific antibody being studied in two different, rare clotting disorders called Glanzmann thrombasthenia and Factor VII syndrome. Hemab intends to advance sutacimig into a Phase 3 study in the former condition this year, and report data from a mid-stage trial in the latter disorder in late 2026 or early 2027. Second in its portfolio is HMB-002, which is one of a few preventive antibody therapies now being tested against Von Willebrand disease, another bleeding condition. The next readout from an ongoing Phase 1/2 trial should also come either late this year or early next. Prior to going public, Hemab secured venture backing from Sofinnova, RA Capital Management and Novo Holdings, among others. Seaport, a spinout of PureTech Health that has been positioned as a successor to Karuna Therapeutics , has two treatments in clinical testing for depression and generalized anxiety disorder. As Karuna did in schizophrenia, the company is essentially tweaking drugs that have shown promise in testing but have flaws such as liver toxicity or low absorption by the blood. Its first drug, SPT-300, has the same active ingredient as Zulresso, the postpartum depression medicine Sage Therapeutics brought to market. Seaport, though, hopes its version will display “rapid and durable efficacy” in major depressive disorder, where Zulresso struggled . Behind that drug is SPT-320, for which Seaport recently revealed Phase 1 data suggesting its treatment might sidestep liver-related issues that have plagued similar treatments. Seaport is also testing a third candidate it believes to have potential aganst multiple conditions including treatment-resistant depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. The company has multiple other pipeline programs underway as well, but didn’t provide specifics in its IPO filing.