Biotech IPOs Steam Ahead in 2014

If you walk into most private biotech company boardrooms today, it is likely that you will hear a discussion about whether to go public. Companies at every stage of development are either getting ready to file for an initial public offering or thinking about it. Although the slowdown in new issues at the end of 2013 gave observers pause that the robust biotech IPO market of 2013 might slow down in 2014, the reality has been just the opposite. By the middle of March, 28 life sciences companies had completed initial public offerings on U.S. exchanges, raising $1.8 billion in new capital, and collectively on average trading 47.4 percent above their initial offering price.