Generate:Biomedicines has raised US$400m in the year’s biggest biotech IPO so far, with proceeds earmarked for clinical trials and R&D on its artificial intelligence platform.
The drug developer, which focuses on immunology and inflammation as well as oncology, priced shares at US$16 and began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol GENB.
Generate closed its first day at US$12.65, down 21 per cent from the IPO price and 17 per cent below its intraday high of US$15.32. It finished with a market capitalisation of about US$1.612bn.
The offering covered 25 million shares. At US$16 a share, Generate projected about US$368.8m in net proceeds, rising to about US$424.9m if underwriters exercise their 30-day option to buy up to 3.75 million additional shares.
The IPO was designed to raise between US$375m and US$425m in gross proceeds. Its US$400m total matched an earlier estimate from Renaissance Capital, which tracks the IPO market.
The debut came as broader markets fell after a higher-than-expected rise in January’s core producer price index, which excludes food and energy. The index rose 0.8 per cent, versus 0.6 per cent in December and 0.3 per cent forecast by a Dow Jones consensus.
Michael Nally, chief executive of Generate:Biomedicines, said the company is focused on long-term drug development rather than day-to-day share moves.
“We don’t run the company on a day-to-day basis. We run the company for the long term,” he said.
“The nice thing about having the capital that we’ve been able to raise and the capital we already have on our balance sheet is that we can put our heads down, recognising that making a drug is a long lead-time endeavour.”
Generate plans to use its IPO proceeds and existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of US$221.498m as of 31 December 2025 to fund five priorities, creating a cash runway of more than US$590m.
The largest allocation, about US$300m, is for its lead pipeline candidate GB-0895, an anti-TSLP monoclonal antibody, through two 52-week phase III trials in severe asthma: SOLAIRIA-1 (NCT07276724) and SOLAIRIA-2 (NCT07359846).
A monoclonal antibody is a lab-made immune protein designed to bind to a specific target in the body. TSLP is an immune signalling protein linked to inflammation in some asthma patients.
The trials will enrol severe asthma patients across about 350 sites in more than 40 countries in North America, Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.
The main measure is the annualised asthma exacerbation rate, with additional assessments including lung function, symptom control and quality of life. Data is expected in late 2028 or early 2029.
“Patients have been dosed, so we’re on our way,” Nally said.
“We ultimately will do the trials in about 1,600 subjects.”
Generate also expects to spend about US$100m to complete its ongoing phase Ib trial of GB-0895 in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, and to prepare the next stage of development, subject to results and regulatory alignment.
COPD is a long-term lung condition that makes it harder to breathe, often due to airflow limitation.
“We dosed the last patient in our Phase Ib study in September, so we expect the six-month data in the first half of this year,” Nally said.
“Once we have that data, we’ll have an opportunity to meet with regulators to discuss what is the best pathway for further evaluation of the therapeutic.”
Generate said it hopes to meet the FDA around mid-year and, if aligned, to begin later-stage trials before the end of the year.
Beyond GB-0895, the pipeline includes two oncology candidates expected to begin phase I trials this year: GB-4362, an antibody targeting free monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) linked to antibody-drug conjugates, and GB-5267, an armoured CAR T therapy targeting MUC-16 for metastatic ovarian cancer, co-developed with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.
CAR T therapy involves modifying a patient’s immune cells to recognise and attack cancer cells.
Generate was founded in 2018 as a Flagship Pioneering company and emerged from stealth during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, saying it had designed candidates to neutralise SARS-CoV-2 in less than 17 days.
Generate ended 2025 with a net loss of US$222.965m, following a net loss of US$181.384m a year earlier.
