From drought to demand: Biotech IPOs roar back with Kailera and Alamar

Yuling Luo rang the Nasdaq closing bell Friday having taken his first company public in a massively oversubscribed round. The Alamar Biosciences CEO’s IPO was one of two back-to-back blockbuster biotech offerings this week, a clear signal that investors are willing to open their wallets for life sciences companies again—under the right conditions.

On Thursday, Kailera Therapeutics, an obesity drug developer, raised $625 million in what is believed to be the largest biotech IPO in Nasdaq history. The IPO priced 39.1 million shares at $16 (the top of its range). The company had initially set out to raise just $500 million. One day post-IPO, Kailera was already up 63 percent.

On Friday, Alamar Biosciences, a precision proteomics (the study of proteins rather than genes) firm, priced its own upsized offering at $17 per share (the top of its range) raising $191.3 million after demand exceeded available shares by 11 times, Luo told Fortune. Much like Kailera, Alamar shares soared, up 33% on the first day of trading. 

For Alamar in particular, the listing carries symbolic weight. The life sciences tools and diagnostics sector has been effectively........

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