Updated Version 3 - NVIDIA and Qatar Investment Authority support Iambic Therapeutics in its US IPO amid biotech boom

Full article supplemented with charts, background information added in paragraph 9

Reuters, September 21 - Drug developer Iambic Therapeutics, backed by chip giant NVIDIA NVDA.O and the Qatar sovereign wealth fund, filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States on Monday, further expanding this autumn’s dense biotech IPO calendar.

Despite uncertainty from the conflict in Iran, industry disruption spurred by artificial intelligence, rising bond yields and interest rate hikes making for a challenging start to the autumn IPO window, analysts say biotech IPO activity has largely remained insulated from these pressures.

This year’s stock offerings in the sector have been supported by a wave of acquisitions from major pharmaceutical companies.

Drug developers Retension Pharmaceuticals and TRex Bio also filed for U.S. IPOs last Friday (link), while ADARx Pharmaceuticals kicked off its roadshow earlier Monday (link).

“The five best-performing IPOs this year (for companies raising $50 million or more) are all biotech firms. This has been largely driven by progress in drug development and acquisition activity,” said Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, an institution specializing in IPO research and ETFs.

Iambic, founded in 2019 and formerly known as Entos, is advancing a pipeline of oncology drug candidates using its artificial intelligence platform (link).

Its most advanced candidate, IAM1363, is currently in early clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumors such as breast cancer.

Earlier in the day, Iambic and pharmaceutical company AbbVie ABBV.N announced a multi-year partnership aimed at accelerating the development of AI-driven small molecule therapies.

The company, headquartered in San Diego, California, has also entered partnerships with pharmaceutical firms including Takeda 4502.T, Lundbeck HLUNa.CO, Revolution Medicines RVMD.O, Jazz Pharmaceuticals JAZZ.O, and Bayer.

Iambic plans to offer new shares in this IPO and has raised about $461.8 million from investors focused on technology and healthcare since its inception.

In addition to NVIDIA and the Qatar Investment Authority, Iambic’s key backers include investment firms Catalio, Nexus Ventures, and Coatue Management.

JPMorgan, Jefferies, BofA Securities and Citigroup are the underwriters for this offering. Iambic plans to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "IAM".

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