A systematic analysis of biotech startups that went public in the first half of 2021

TL;DR

This paper systematically analyzes biotech startups that went public in the first half of 2021, identifying key traits like leadership education, clinical trials, and financing that influence IPO success and timing.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive database and analysis of recent biotech IPOs, highlighting factors associated with successful and timely public offerings.

Findings

Advanced degrees among leadership are common in successful IPOs.

Large private funding rounds can shorten time-to-IPO.

Traits observed in 2021 IPOs were also present in 2018-2019, indicating consistency over years.

Abstract

Biotechnologies are being commercialized at historic rates. In 2020, 74 biotech startups went public through an Initial Public Offering (IPO), and 60 went through the IPO process in the first six months of 2021. However, the traits associated with biotech startups obtaining recent IPOs have not been reported. Here we build a database of biotechs that underwent an IPO in the first half of 2021. By analyzing leadership, technological focus, clinical trials, and financing, we found that advanced degrees among the leadership, clinical trials, and intellectual property are important factors for biotech startups. The data also suggest that large private rounds can decrease time-to-IPO and affect post-IPO stock performance. Notably, these traits were often exhibited by the 138 biotech IPOs in 2018-2019, suggesting 2021 data were not driven by COVID.