US biotech Aktis Oncology has filed IPO documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in what could be the first biotech listing on the Nasdaq in 2026.
The Boston-based radiopharmaceutical specialist first revealed plans for an IPO last month, pinning a $100 million placeholder on the bid, but emboldened by signs of increased investor appetite for IPOs – at least outside the biotech space – after a lacklustre 2024 and 2025.
Today, it revealed plans to raise that target significantly, to a gross of around $210 million, with the sale of 11.8 million shares priced at between $16 and $18 apiece. If it hits the top of that range, it could end up with a valuation of roughly $840 million.
Aktis' technology platform relies on the use of alpha radiation – which has limited penetrating power – to deliver highly localised radiotherapy to tumours that is designed to prevent off-target effects in neighbouring, healthy tissues.
The company has said that alpha particle radiopharmaceuticals are also less prone to the development of treatment resistance because they introduce breaks across both strands of DNA in malignant cells.
Its lead candidates are AKY-1189 targeting Nectin-4-expressing cancers, which is currently in a 150-patient phase 1b trial in the US with preliminary results expected in the first quarter of 2027, and AKY-2519 targeting B7-H3-expressing tumours that should start human testing in the first half of this year.
Both are based on the alpha-emitting isotope Actinium-225 and consist of 'miniprotein' radioconjugate molecules designed to be taken up and retained by cancer cells.
Aktis was founded in 2020 and raised $156 million in a Series A that closed in 2022, followed by a $175 million Series B in 2024. In between those, the company also locked down a $1.1 billion strategic partnership with Eli Lilly that included an upfront payment of $60 million and an undisclosed equity investment.
The prospectus for the IPO says Aktis had $246 million in cash reserves at the end of the third quarter of 2025. The biotech intends to list on the Nasdaq under the AKTS symbol.
Analysts have been talking up signs of a pickup in biotech IPOs this year, thanks to an improved funding environment and rising rates of M&A deals that can give investors a route to a payoff.
It's worth saying those predictions came ahead of geopolitical instability and market volatility that may follow events like the US administration's regime-changing operation in Venezuela and fears it may be planning a similar action in Greenland, after President Trump repeated a threat to annex the autonomous territory of Denmark.
https://pharmaphorum.com/news/aktis-oncology-files-much-expanded-ipo
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