How LB Rode the Brutal Capital Markets to One of 2025’s Most Successful IPOs
LB Pharma’s successful IPO story is one of timing—good and bad.
After revealing in January 2025 that schizophrenia treatment LB-102 reduced symptoms in a Phase 2 trial, CEO Heather Turner and her team were convinced they had something that could make a big difference for patients.
“We then undertook the process to raise capital at probably the worst possible time that you could possibly decide to need to raise $350 million,” Turner told BioSpace on the sidelines of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in January. “Of course, the bottom fell out of the capital markets.”
Last year began with a flurry of IPOs, spurring optimism that the markets might finally be opening up after a prolonged downturn. IPO listings peaked following the pandemic sugar rush in 2021, with many companies going out before producing any clinical data. But investors began to balk at the myriad companies seeking to list, leading to a drought over the next few years.
Venture capital spending also tightened significantly in 2025, leaving companies like LB scrambling to raise capital.
But this was not Turner’s first rodeo. She successfully ran a dual-track IPO and M&A process with her previous biotech Carmot Therapeutics, which ultimately ended in Roche’s $3.1 billion takeover in December 2023.
As the LB crew worked on a capital raise after the January 2025 data release, Turner and her fellow executives began to see there might be a crack in the IPO window that had been shut tight for seven months. Talks with the FDA were going well and LB believed that the Phase 2 trial, which had been designed to be registrational, could be paired with just one late-stage test to support a regulatory filing for LB-102.
“We talked to the bank and luckily, the bank didn’t throw up on the idea,” Turner said. “That gave me quite a bit of confidence that we might have some partnerships that would really try to get it done.”
And so they went for it. Turner remembers being nervous that the IPO would not be successful. “Everyday, it felt like there was an obstacle,” she said.
But the team believed in LB-102, and once they got on the road talking to investors, Turner said they began to see growing interest. Instead of proclaiming a potential valuation, LB let investors decide, ultimately pricing at $15 per share for proceeds of $285 million. PitchBook now values LB at $617 million. Shares are up nearly 40% since the September 11 debut, sitting at $23.70 as of Friday morning.
Analysts are cautiously optimistic about an IPO rebound for biopharma. BioSpace is keeping track of companies that seek to trade on the public markets this year.
For now, LB is deep in the clinic. In addition to an ongoing Phase 3 for LB-102, the company in January initiated a Phase 2 trial for the asset in bipolar depression. LB also sees opportunities for LB-102 as an adjunctive in major depressive disorder, in Alzheimer’s disease psychosis and for the negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
Turner said she’s glad that her biotech’s success helped show the industry what some solid mid-stage clinical data can do. LB had to be clear with potential investors that, while the Phase 2 data was great, they would not be seeing another catalyst anytime soon. Topline data for the Phase 3 schizophrenia test is due in the second half of 2027.
“I think the investors that came into the stock understood that it’s going to be a while,” Turner said. “You’re going to have to put your seat belts on and wait it out.”
