By Manya Saini and Niket Nishant
Oct 8 (Reuters) - Nvidia-backed Iambic Therapeutics, which uses AI to develop drugs, is aiming to raise up to $159.4 million in its US IPO, as the biotech sector emerges as a bright spot in an otherwise lackluster market.
The initial public offering would value the drugmaker at up to $805.8 million — towards the top of its indicated price range — based on the number of outstanding shares listed in its prospectus, a regulatory filing showed on Tuesday.
AI-driven drug
discovery is among the few areas where the technology's promise is translating into growing investor interest, as biotech companies use it to identify drug candidates and speed up parts of the development process.
Iambic is marketing roughly 9.38 million shares at $15 to $17 apiece. Investment firms ARK Investment Management and Duquesne Family Office have indicated interest in purchasing shares worth $60 million.
Founded in 2019 as Entos, Iambic is advancing a pipeline of drug candidates developed using its AI platform to treat solid tumors. It has partnerships with some top pharma companies, including AbbVie and Takeda Pharmaceutical.
"I would characterize it as a clinical-stage biotech company with an AI-enhanced drug discovery platform, rather than a pure AI play," said Kat Liu, vice president at IPOX. The valuation depends primarily on pipeline strength and the probability of eventual approval and commercialization, Liu added.
A successful listing would set Iambic apart in a fall IPO market hit by a string of delays as rising Treasury yields and market volatility make investors more cautious.
Concerns over an overheating AI trade and persistent geopolitical tensions have further dampened appetite, leaving biotech among the few areas still drawing interest.
Iambic is aiming to trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "IAM" after the offering. J.P.Morgan, Jefferies, BofA Securities and Citigroup are the lead underwriters.
(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Joyjeet Das)
