If as recently as three months ago biotech flotations looked like an area in terminal decline, the second quarter witnessed a remarkable turnaround, with the total raised in new issues exceeding $1bn and amounting to the strongest IPO quarter since nearly two years ago.
The resurgence has been driven by the US, which in Biohaven’s (NYSE:BHVN) $168m float saw the biggest IPO of 2017 so far. It will not go unnoticed that the third quarter of 2015, the last time the $1bn mark was breached, came just after the peak of biotech’s bull run, and that the Nasdaq biotech index last month hit its highest point since the end of 2015 (see data below).
