By Manya Saini
April 17 (Reuters) - Weight-loss drug developer Kailera Therapeutics' shares surged 62.5% in their Nasdaq debut on Friday after closing a $625 million U.S. initial public offering, as Wall Street's appetite for the fast-growing market remains unsated.
Success of newer weight-loss therapies has spurred a rush of investment as drugmakers race to challenge pharma giants Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk in what is expected to become a $150-billion annual market by the end of the decade.
Kailera
had sold roughly 39 million shares priced at $16, the top end of its marketed range. The stock opened at $26 each.
The spring IPO market is chugging along, with several sizable deals closing after a brief March lull as volatility linked to the Middle East conflict and a tech selloff on fears of disruption by AI weighed on sentiment.
The listing also signals a potential turnaround for the biotechnology IPO market, which has been muted in recent years, although weight-loss drug developers have previously bucked the trend.
Kailera's rival Metsera had raised $275 million in its January 2025 IPO at a valuation of $1.8 billion. Late last year, pharma giant Pfizer closed its up to $10 billion deal to buy Metsera after a fierce bidding war.
"Obesity remains one of the few areas in biotech with clear investor appetite, especially after deals such as Metsera’s acquisition by Pfizer reinforced the idea that promising GLP-1 companies can attract strategic buyers," IPOX Research Associate Lukas Muehlbauer told Reuters.
Kailera's lead product, KAI-9531, is in global phase 3 trials as a once-weekly injectable targeting GLP-1/GIP. GLP-1 drugs are on track to become the largest drug class in history.
The company is also developing an oral drug, KAI-7535, a once-daily small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist.
"With readouts for its lead program not expected until 2028, near-term trading in the stock is likely to be impacted by fundamentals in obesity-drug space," Muehlbauer said.
(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
