Industries always go through ups and downs of plentiful times and more meager ones. Biotech in particular, due to long drug development timelines, isn’t too quick to escape a rut. The IPO market for biotechs has wallowed since its last peak in 2021, still reeling from the turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic and a landscape in which public market success is far from guaranteed.

“During the pandemic, there was plenty of enthusiasm for biotech coupled with low interest rates that made them great investment opportunities,” said Brad Stewart, managing principal and national life sciences co-leader at BDO. “Then both of those things changed at the same time, making it easier for people to put capital in places with lower risk rather than the biotech industry.”

That IPO slump started to give way last year, lending some optimism to biotech markets, but the volume was still low and the debut performance less than ideal. In 2025, other forces like regulatory upheaval and the threat of tariffs have caused the IPO market to dwindle further. Today, we’re exploring the state of the industry’s drive for public offerings and what it would take to turn the ship around.