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The 2026 biotech IPO rebound is about deal size more than deal count
Biotech’s IPO window is open again, and investors are putting most of the money into a smaller set of large, later-stage US offerings. Sleuth’s September 2026 count tracks 43 priced drug-developer IPOs worldwide from January 1 to September 24, raising about $9.1 billion on a base-offering basis, the most biotech IPOs in a year since 2021.
June was the busiest month in that count, with 9 IPOs raising $1.78 billion. By proceeds, April ($1.66 billion) and February ($1.48 billion) came next, each with 6 IPOs. March was the low point: 3 listings on KOSDAQ and the Tokyo Stock Exchange raised $80 million combined, and no US drug developer priced an IPO that month.
US listings are half the count and three-quarters of the money
In Sleuth’s count through September 24, 2026, 22 of the 43 IPOs listed in the US and raised about $6.9 billion, roughly 75% of the global total. The average US deal was about $314 million, which Sleuth puts at around 68% above the 2025 US average. The 10 Hong Kong listings raised $1.53 billion, an average of about $153 million, and the remaining 11 on Shanghai’s STAR Market, KOSDAQ, Tokyo and Taiwan’s exchanges raised about $0.7 billion between them.
The largest 2026 deals in the count, on a base-offering basis, were Parabilis Medicines ($670 million, June), Kailera Therapeutics ($625 million, April), ADARx Pharmaceuticals ($446.3 million, September), and Generate:Biomedicines and Kardigan ($400 million each). Parabilis’s raise was reported in June 2026 as the largest venture-backed biotech IPO on record, passing the record Kailera had set weeks earlier. Only one of the 22 US IPOs through September 24, Vogenx ($81.3 million, August), raised less than $100 million.
For companies preparing to list, the US market in 2026 is rewarding large, fully financed offerings rather than small raises that bridge to the next data point. Asian exchanges, Hong Kong above all, carry the count’s smaller deals.
Investors are buying late-stage assets, with I&I in favor
The size of the 2026 deals reflects a more mature set of companies. In Sleuth’s read of the cohort through September 24, the large majority were at Phase 2 or Phase 3 when they listed, and public investors have shown little appetite for the preclinical platform companies that went public in 2020 and 2021.
Immunology and inflammation (I&I) has been the standout area. Agomab ($200 million, February), Odyssey Therapeutics ($279 million, May), Attovia ($289 million, August) and Electra Therapeutics ($350 million, September) all listed in the US in 2026, and TRex Bio has filed to follow. That matches what Sleuth sees in I&I venture funding and pharma BD, tracked in its I&I Intelligence Report, and in pharma M&A, tracked in its T15 Pharma Buyout Map.
For private companies weighing an IPO, a late-stage asset in an area pharma is already buying into is what clears the public bar in 2026. An early platform story alone does not.
Aftermarket gains are keeping the window open
As of September 24, 2026, about 67% of the US 2026 IPO cohort traded above its IPO price, by Sleuth’s count, including every US IPO from August. Gains after listing give investors a reason to keep buying new issues. ADARx, which priced at $17 per share on September 24 and is in the count, opened at $22.10 on its first day of trading, September 25, 2026, and closed at $19.35.
More deals are lined up. In the week of October 5, 2026, TRex Bio set terms for a Nasdaq IPO with Eli Lilly indicating interest in buying shares, and Retension Pharmaceuticals set terms for a $40 million IPO. On October 8, 2026, Iambic Therapeutics set terms for a $150 million IPO. Any of them that prices does so after the September 24 cutoff, so none are in the 43.
For BD and strategy teams, a working IPO market changes the negotiation: late-stage biotechs with a credible listing path have an alternative to a partnership or sale, and that option holds as long as most of the 2026 cohort keeps trading above its IPO price.
How Sleuth built this analysis
Which IPOs the count includes
The count covers priced IPOs by drug developers worldwide from January 1 to September 24, 2026, placed by month of listing. Device, diagnostics, CDMO and CRO companies are excluded, as are direct listings and reverse mergers.
Why proceeds are base-offering figures
Proceeds are stated on a base-offering basis, before any underwriters’ option. Deals where the option was exercised raised more than shown: Parabilis’s total, for example, rose to $770.5 million with the option.
IPO counts, proceeds and aftermarket performance are as of September 24, 2026. News on ADARx’s first day of trading and on pending IPOs is current as of October 8, 2026.
Frequently asked questions about 2026 biotech IPOs
How many biotech companies have gone public in 2026?
Sleuth counted 43 priced drug-developer IPOs worldwide from January 1 to September 24, 2026, raising about $9.1 billion on a base-offering basis. 22 of them listed in the US and 10 in Hong Kong; the rest listed on Shanghai’s STAR Market, KOSDAQ, Tokyo and Taiwan’s exchanges.
What was the largest biotech IPO of 2026?
Parabilis Medicines raised $670 million on a base-offering basis when it listed on Nasdaq in June 2026, the largest in Sleuth’s count through September 24, 2026. The underwriters’ option took its IPO proceeds to $770.5 million. Kailera Therapeutics ($625 million, April 2026) was second.
How much do US biotech IPOs raise on average in 2026?
The 22 US drug-developer IPOs from January 1 to September 24, 2026 raised about $6.9 billion, an average of about $314 million per deal on a base-offering basis. Sleuth puts that around 68% above the 2025 US average.
Which month had the most biotech IPOs in 2026?
June 2026, with 9 drug-developer IPOs raising $1.78 billion, was the busiest month in Sleuth’s count through September 24, 2026. April raised slightly less, $1.66 billion, across 6 IPOs.
Are Iambic, TRex Bio and Retension Pharmaceuticals in the count?
No. All three set terms for Nasdaq IPOs in October 2026, after the September 24, 2026 cutoff, so they are outside Sleuth’s count of 43 IPOs whenever they price.
