Week of August 15, 2025

The Week at a Glance:

• Stocks Rally: Major indices finished the week up for the fourth out of five previous weeks thanks to strong earnings, resilient economic growth, and an increased likelihood of rate cuts

• Sarepta Looks for a Lifeline: Sarepta sold its entire Arrowhead stake, raising ~$174M in cash to extend its runway while simultaneously using ~2.7M shares plus $50M cash to settle a $100M milestone owed to Arrowhead. This move comes amid financial challenges, including declining sales of Elevidys and recent FDA scrutiny following patient fatalities

• Bayer Bets on KRASi: Bayer struck a deal worth up to $1.3B with Kumquat Biosciences to acquire global rights to a KRAS G12D inhibitor. Kumquat will run the drug through a Phase 1a study before Bayer takes over development, targeting cancers such as pancreatic, colorectal, and non-small cell lung cancer

Markets Overview

• The S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow finished with gains of 0.9%, 0.8%, and 1.7%, respectively

  • Inflation data for the week was mixed: the CPI showed signs of cooling inflation, while the PPI pointed to a reacceleration

  • Investors continue to be hopeful of a rate cut as the market has priced in an 88% chance that the Fed will lower rates in September

The NYSE Pharma Index rose 6.0% and the NBI gained 5.0% on the week, supported by growing investor confidence in a potential rate cut  

Notable changes in share price:

• Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY): Shares rose 11.6% to finish the week after rebounding from weak orforglipron data, helped by plans to raise GLP-1 prices abroad to offset potential MFN pricing

• Precigen (NASDAQ: PGEN): Shares jumped 58.9% on Friday after the FDA unexpectedly approved its drug for a rare respiratory disease, based on a 35-patient Phase 1/2 trial. The decision underscores the FDA’s push to expedite rare-disease approvals

• Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO): Shares climbed 7.2% post-Friday’s close after Wegovy gained approval in NASH/MASH. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals fell 7.5% on the news, while companies like Akero Therapeutics and 89Bio, which focus on the fibrotic patient population, remained unchanged

Sources: Pitchbook, Biomedtracker, and CapIQ

Equity Markets

IPO Markets:

No companies completed IPOs last week.

No companies filed an S-1 last week

18 companies in total remain in the queue, of which none intend to raise more than $30.0M in proceeds

Year-to-date, companies that have gone public in 2025 have had a median loss of (7.8%)

Follow-On Offering Markets:

There were eight completed follow-on equity offerings last week totaling $304.5M, including:

• Compass Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CMPX) raised $100.0M to fund commercial readiness and advance its clinical-stage pipeline, including its lead DLL4 x VEGF-A bispecific antibody programs in biliary tract and colorectal cancer

• Oxford Biomedica plc (LSE: OXB) raised $81.4M to expand US cell and gene therapy manufacturing capacity and strengthen its CDMO network

• Sagimet Biosciences (NASDAQ: SGMT) raised $75.0M to advance its FASN inhibitor denifanstat for MASH and support broader pipeline development

PIPE/RDO Markets:

• There were three PIPEs/RDOs last week totaling $138.0M, including:

  • X4 Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: XFOR), developing therapies for rare immunological diseases, raised $85.0M in a PIPE led by Coastlands Capital with support from existing investors Bain Capital Life Sciences and NEA

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