By Pragyan Kalita
Nov 13 (Reuters) – Novo Holdings-backed Windward Bio was valued at $1.07 billion after its shares opened above their IPO price in their Nasdaq debut on Friday.
Shares opened at $18.35 after the Basel, Switzerland-based company priced its IPO at $17 per share within its marketed range of $16 to $18, raising $175 million.
• The debut comes as the broader IPO market struggles with an AI-driven tech selloff and higher-for-longer interest rates, while biotech IPOs have stood apart as a bright spot
• The biotech sector itself has seen a revival in activity this year amid President Donald Trump’s policy shifts and sweeping changes to the US Food and Drug Administration
• More than half a dozen biotech firms have gone public in New York since September
• “In IPO lulls, we see that the biotech sector is sometimes not truly affected by the broader market. With large chunky orders in biotech order books and smaller transaction sizes as a whole, these offerings are much more manageable and easier to complete (for the companies),” Jeff Zell, senior research analyst at IPO Boutique, told Reuters
• Windward is developing antibody medicines for patients with serious respiratory and dermatologic diseases, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and atopic dermatitis
• French drugmaker Sanofi has agreed to purchase $50 million of shares and pre-funded warrants in a private placement
• Windward’s CEO, Luca Santarelli, is an industry veteran who previously led VectivBio and Therachon, which sold for $1.2 billion and $810 million, respectively
(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
