Drug developer ADARx seeks $1.74 billion valuation in US IPO

Drug developer ADARx seeks $1.74 billion valuation in US IPO

By Pragyan Kalita

Mon, September 21, 2026 at 8:00 PM GMT+3 2 min read

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By Pragyan Kalita

Sept 21 (Reuters) - ADARx Pharmaceuticals, which develops RNA-based drugs for rare diseases, said on Monday that it was targeting a valuation of ‌up to $1.74 billion, as it joins a wave of biotech companies ‌planning for a US IPO.

Drugmaker AbbVie has agreed to invest up to $100 million in a concurrent ​private placement, which would give it a roughly 4.9% stake post-IPO, ADARx said. AbbVie had paid the company $335 million in May 2025 for a research collaboration.

The investment provides external validation of ADARx's technology, said IPOX Research Associate Lukas Muehlbauer.

ADARx's experimental drugs ‌target diseases related to immunity, ⁠kidney, cardiovascular and neurological systems. Three of its programs are in clinical testing and two in advanced preclinical development.

The company's ⁠most advanced candidate, onvuzosiran, is in late-stage testing for hereditary angioedema, a rare genetic disorder that causes sudden swelling attacks.

San Diego-based ADARx, founded in 2019, is aiming to ​raise up ​to $371.9 million by offering 21.9 million shares ​priced between $15 and $17.

BIOTECH MOMENTUM CONTINUES

The ‌IPO comes even as a sharp rise in Treasury yields and higher interest rates have nudged some prospective issuers to the sidelines, although biotech offerings have broadly rebounded from year-ago levels.

Drug developers Retension Pharmaceuticals and TRex Bio filed for their listings on Friday while Electra Therapeutics debuted in the market after raising $350 million ‌in an upsized IPO.

According to Muehlbauer, however, ​the reopening of the biotech IPO market is ​still selective — favouring companies with later-stage ​assets, upcoming catalysts and exposure to areas such as obesity ‌and oncology.

"Sentiment has also been helped ​by big pharma's appetite ​for external innovation," he said. Prospects of acquisitions of even relatively new biotechs mean a potential route to returns for investors despite higher rates.

JPMorgan, ​Morgan Stanley, TD Cowen, ‌among others, are the underwriters for the offering. It will list ​on the Nasdaq under the symbol "ADRX."

(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita in Bengaluru; ​Editing by Joyjeet Das and Sahal Muhammed)