DNB//BACK BAY Weekly Market Updates

Week of April 25, 2025

The Week at a Glance:

• Trade Deal Talks Sparks Rally: Major US indices finished the week with an average gain of 4.6% as investors continue to hope for trade deals to delay or minimize the effect of tariffs

• Pharma Earnings Season Begins: Some of largest names in the pharma industry reported Q1 earnings last week, including Roche, Sanofi, Merck, BMS, Gilead, and AbbVie – the effect of tariffs was the most commonly asked question by investors on earnings calls

• New Regulations for Rare Diseases: FDA Commissioner Marty Makary discussed a potential new regulatory pathway for rare disease treatments and noted that randomized controlled trials aren’t always feasible for certain diseases

  • If further actions are taken by the FDA to reduce the stringency for rare disease clinical trials it could result in a surge of approvals and deal making within rare disease indications

• Healthcare Remains in “Wait and See” State: Despite promising equity performance last week for the sector, deal making continues to be stagnant with little activity in both the public and private markets as players wait for more clarity around regulation and economic policy

US and EU - Markets Overview

• Major US indices finished the week with S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq up 4.6%, 6.7%, and 2.5%

  • Wall Street reacted positively to news that the current administration may ease off its game of tariff chicken with China, as President Trump said that tariffs will “come down substantially”

  • President Trump said he has “no intention” of firing Powell on Tuesday

• Consumer sentiment continues to erode as Americans remain concerned about rising inflation as President Trump’s tariff policies take effect

  • The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey showed that inflation outlook soared in April as one-year inflation expectations hit 6.5%, the highest since 1981

Similar to broader markets, healthcare indices finished the week with gains with the NBI and NYSE Arca Pharma Index up 4.1% and 3.7%, respectively

Notable changes in share price:

• Summit Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SMMT): fell nearly 37% on Friday after its partner Akeso’s ivonescimab trial failed to meet statistical significance against Merck’s Keytruda, raising fresh doubts about the next wave of oncology innovation. The drop came even as large-cap pharmaceutical stocks rallied 4–6% on positive Q1 earnings and defensive money flow rotation into the sector

Sources: Pitchbook, Biomedtracker, and CapIQ

Equity Markets

IPO Markets:

• There were no IPOs completed or filed last week

• 27 companies in total remain in the queue, of which ~80% intend to raise less than $30.0M in proceeds

  • Of these, eight companies filed between Q4 2024 and today

    
    

Follow-On Offering Markets:

• There were five follow-on offerings last week raising an aggregate of ~$102.4M with one deal accounting for ~80% of the aggregate deal value

  • Rezolute, Inc. (NASDAQ: RZLT) raised $81.1M to advance its late-stage rare disease pipeline, led by its program targeting congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI). The financing comes ahead of a topline data readout expected in the second half of 2025

    
    

PIPE/RDO Markets:

• There were two PIPEs/RDOs last week raising an aggregate of $141.3M in proceeds

  • Verastem (NASDAQ: VSTM) raised $75.0M to fund the potential launch of avutometinib and defactinib in recurrent low-grade serous ovarian cancer, along with continuing to advance its pipeline of RAS/MAPK pathway driven cancers

    
    

Liscensing

M & A

There were no M&A deals last week.

Venture Financing

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