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

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. In this study, we built a database of biotechs that underwent an IPO in the first half of 2021. After analyzing the leadership, technological focus, clinical trials, and financing of these biotech startups, we found that advanced degrees in leadership, clinical trials, and intellectual property were important factors for biotech startups. The data also suggested that large private rounds could decrease the time-to-IPO and affect post-IPO stock performance. In particular, these traits were often exhibited by the 108 biotech IPOs in 2018–2019, thereby suggesting that the data obtained for 2021 were not necessarily driven by COVID-19.