- Ascentage Pharma raised $126 million in its Nasdaq IPO to support its cancer drug pipeline, including lead candidate olverembatinib.
- The IPO highlights renewed investor interest in biotech, following a strong late 2024 equity market performance.
Ascentage Pharma, a China-based biotechnology firm, raised $126 million in its US initial public offering (IPO), marking the first biotech IPO of 2025. The company sold 7,325,000 American Depositary Shares (ADS) at $17.25 each. Trading began on 24 January on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “AAPG,” with shares rising by up to 4% during early trading hours.
The funds will primarily support the development of Ascentage’s cancer drug pipeline, including olverembatinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) approved in China as Nelic. The drug is used to treat adult patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) resistant to prior TKI treatments or carrying the T315I mutation. Olverembatinib is also being investigated in the Phase III POLARIS-2 trial, which plans to enrol 285 patients globally.
This IPO follows a key licensing deal signed with Takeda in 2024. Under the agreement, Takeda paid $100 million upfront for the option to commercialise olverembatinib outside China and several neighbouring regions, with potential milestone payments totalling $1.2 billion.
Investor interest in biotech IPOs is showing signs of revival after years of fluctuation. Late 2024 saw a resurgence, with three biotech firms collectively raising over $700 million in a single day on Nasdaq. Industry analysts expect 2025 to continue this positive trend, with equity raising becoming a critical financing tool.
Beyond olverembatinib, Ascentage’s pipeline includes lisaftoclax, a treatment for blood cancers currently under regulatory review in China.