Week of December 5, 2025

The Week at a Glance:

• Looking Ahead: A handful of major banks have published recent reports expecting healthcare to outperform in 2026, citing a combination of relative undervaluation, decreasing political volatility, prospects of improved operating efficiency through AI, and an increased focus on M&A due to approaching patent cliffs

• All Eyes on the Fed: Major indices traded flat on the week as investors turned their attention to Wednesday’s Fed meeting, where many expect a 25-bps rate cut

• Commercial IPOs Remain a Dominant Theme: Saluda Medical’s ~$150.0M raise, aimed at expanding its sales force for its FDA-approved spinal-cord stimulation therapy for chronic neuropathic pain, underscores the ongoing trend of commercial MedTech IPOs leading the market this year

• Meet us in San Francisco: DNB Carnegie//Back Bay will be in San Francisco in early January. If you would like to meet with our strategy and finance teams, contact us.

Markets Overview

The S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq were up 0.3%, 0.5%, and 0.9% on the week

• Investor attention centered on the Fed’s December rate-cut decision, causing major indices to trade flat on the week

The NYSE Pharma Index and NBI were down 2.6% and 1.4% respectively

Notable changes in share price:

• Capricor Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CAPR): Shares jumped 398.0% after the Company announced positive topline results from its Phase 3 trial in DMD, followed by a $150.0M follow-on offering

• Praxis Precision Medicines (NASDAQ: PRAX): Shares rose 28.2% after the Company announced positive results from its pivotal trial in SCN2A and SCN8A developmental and epileptic encephalopathies, as well as a successful pre-NDA meeting with the FDA for its essential tremor drug candidate, ulixacaltamide

• Fractyl Health (NASDAQ: GUTS): Shares rose 32.5% after the Company announced positive six-month data from its weight-loss maintenance trial, demonstrating sustained weight loss following GLP-1 discontinuation with a single Revita procedure

• Janux Therapeutics (NASDAQ: JANX): Shares fell 51.6% after the Company announced that data from its PSMA × CD3 tumor-activated T-cell engager program in advanced castration-resistant prostate cancer failed to achieve the response rates investors had anticipated

Sources: Pitchbook, Biomedtracker, and CapIQ

Equity Markets

IPO Markets:

One company completed an IPO larger than ~$100M last week:

• Saluda Medical raised ~$152.3M to continue commercialization of the Evoke spinal cord stimulation system, a device that measures the spinal cord’s neural response to stimulation and is used to adjust treatment delivery for chronic neurological pain

• Saluda generated ~$70M revenue in FY25 (12 mo. ending June 2025) with ~$82M forecasted for FY26; however, the Company remains pre-profit, posting net losses of ~$128M in FY25 and projecting ~$145M in net losses in FY26

No companies announced a public offering larger than ~$100M last week

Two companies in the IPO queue are targeting raises above ~$200M:  

10/28/2025
Medline:  $5,000.0 Intended Raise ($M)

11/17/2025
Lumexa Imaging:  $200.0 Intended Raise ($M)

Eighteen additional companies in the IPO queue are pursuing raises below $30M, with three companies announcing their raises in the last three months

IPOs that have priced this year have delivered a median gain of 37.4%, with 80% of newly public companies trading above their offer price

Follow-On Offering Markets:

There were four follow-on equity offerings last week raising $713.0M, including:

• Belite Bio (NASDAQ: BLTE) raised $350.0M to accelerate late-stage development and commercial readiness for Tinlarebant, an oral RBP4 antagonist in Phase 3 studies for Stargardt disease and geographic atrophy, while continuing R&D activities for LBS-009, an oral RBP4 antagonist in preclinical development for metabolic dysfunction-driven liver and endocrine disorders

• Capricor Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CAPR) raised $150.0M to support commercialization readiness for its cell therapy portfolio following positive topline results from the pivotal Phase 3 HOPE-3 study of deramiocel (CAP-1002), an allogeneic cell therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and to advance additional R&D initiatives such as its StealthX™ exosome-based platform

• Kestra Medical Technologies (NASDAQ: KMTS) raised $138.0M to scale its commercial and operational infrastructure for the ASSURE wearable cardioverter defibrillator, which provides autonomous detection and defibrillation for patients at elevated risk of sudden cardiac arrest, alongside integrated digital monitoring and patient-support services

• Protara Therapeutics (NASDAQ: TARA) raised $75.0M to support clinical development of TARA-002, a novel bacterial-derived immunopotentiator cell therapy currently in Phase 2 studies in both non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and lymphatic malformations (LM)

PIPE/RDO Markets:

There was four PIPEs/RDOs last week raising $194.M, including:

• Crescent Biopharma (NASDAQ: CBIO) raised $185.0M to advance clinical development of its next-generation solid tumor therapies, expand pipeline programs, and accelerate commercialization efforts

Licensing

M & A

This is the second week in a row with no M&A activity.

Venture Financing

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