Adds analyst comments in paragraph 11
By Ateev Bhandari
Jan 31 (Reuters) - Maze Therapeutics MAZE.O became the latest drug developer to list in New York on Friday, with its shares rising nearly 1% in their debut, giving the company a valuation of $690.37 million.
The muted market reaction suggests investors caution persists as demand for new listings slowly recovers following a nearly three-year dry spell.
The company's shares opened at $16.12 apiece, compared with the initial public offering price of $16.
Maze upsized its IPO to sell 8.75 million shares within the marketed range of $15 to $17 each to raise $140 million. It had initially planned to offer 7.8 million shares.
Maze is developing drugs to treat chronic kidney diseases, including two lead experimental candidates: MZE829, in a mid-stage study, and MZE782, in an early-stage study, with initial data expected in the second half of 2025.
Last month, Maze had raised $115 million in a series-D round, led jointly by Frazier Life Sciences and Deep Track Capital.
HEALTHCARE IPO PIPELINE
A slew of healthcare firms are waiting to test the IPO market. The list is led by Medline, which confidentially filed for an IPO that could value the medical supplies provider at up to $50 billion.
Healthcare companies led IPO listings in 2024, making up 43% of volume and 26% of value for deals with proceeds over $50 million, according to an EY report.
Market response post-listing, however, has been tepid as weight-loss drug developers BioAge Labs BIOA.O and MBX Biosciences MBX.O both currently trade well-below their IPO prices, according to data compiled by LSEG, despite surging in their market debuts.
"Recent healthcare IPO performance has been subdued by post-election uncertainty. While this may resolve over time, it's clearly impacting investor confidence in the sector for now," said Dr. Lukas Muehlbauer of IPOX Schuster.
Recent healthcare listings continue to shed market value https://reut.rs/4jCIj6I
(Reporting by Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
((Ateev.Bhandari@thomsonreuters.com))
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