Precision medicine biotech Black Diamond Therapeutics (BDTX) popped 108% on Thursday, another sign that 2020 will be an active year for biotech IPOs.
Since the start of 2019, 52 biotechs have IPO'd in the US, averaging a first-day gain of 16%, and an average return from offer price of 60%.
Black Diamond follows in the footsteps of 2019 IPO Turning Point Therapeutics (TPTX), which is also developing kinase inhibitors for solid tumors; Turning Point now trades 236% above its $18 offer price.
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While Black Diamond targets a hot space in biotechnology, it has some catching up to do. Many of its precision medicine peers have late-stage candidates, and it has not yet demonstrated proof-of-concept in humans.
The biotech is led by co-founders David Epstein and Elizabeth Buck. Backed by Versant Ventures, NEA, and RA Capital, Black Diamond raised $194 million privately. At the offer price, it commanded a fully diluted market value of $672 million, with about $350 million in post-IPO cash on its balance sheet.
