LB Pharmaceuticals, a Phase 3-ready biotech developing therapies for neuropsychiatric diseases, announced terms for its IPO on Monday.
The New York, NY-based company plans to raise $250 million by offering 16.7 million shares at a price range of $14 to $16. At the midpoint of the proposed range, LB Pharmaceuticals would command a market value of $301.5 million. LB Pharmaceuticals' offering will represent 83% of post-IPO basic shares outstanding. The company has planned an accelerated roadshow, with pricing scheduled for this week.
LB Pharmaceuticals is expected to break the longest biotech IPO drought in over 10 years, as the first sizable biotech IPO since Aardvark Therapeutics in February 2025. The space has been challenged by poor performance, especially among 2024 biotech IPOs (-38% from offer on average), though performance has improved in the past few months; the Nasdaq Biotech Index is up 10.8% year-to-date and up 28.0% from its April low, roughly returning to pre-election levels.
LB Pharmaceuticals' lead candidate LB-102, is a Phase 3-ready oral small molecule that it is developing to treat acute schizophrenia, a chronic disease characterized by hallucinations and delusions that affects roughly 1% of the US population. After achieving its primary endpoint of a change in the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale at week four in its 359-patient Phase 2 trial, LB Pharmaceuticals expects to begin a Phase 3 trial in the 1Q26.
LB Pharmaceuticals was founded in 2015 and plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol LBRX. Leerink Partners, Piper Sandler, and Stifel are the joint bookrunners on the deal. It is expected to price during the week of September 8, 2025.
