Electra amasses $350M in biotech’s latest big IPO

Dive Brief: - Rare disease drugmaker Electra Therapeutics on Thursday banked $350 million in an initial public offering, becoming the 21st biotechnology company to price a new stock issuance in 2026. - Electra plans to use the proceeds to continue developing an experimental drug for secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis or “HLH,” a rare, sometimes life-threatening immune disorder with no approved treatments. That drug, called ipsoprubart, is in a registrational trial. Electra expects to complete enrollment in the second half of 2027. - With Electra’s haul, 11 biotechs have raised more than $300 million in their IPOs in 2026, matching 2021’s total and surpassing what was seen in the previous four years combined, according to BioPharma Dive data. Dive Insight: In the first biotech IPO after Labor Day, Electra proved there’s still a large appetite in the public markets for clinical-stage drugmakers. Every one of the 21 biotech companies that have gone public this year had a drug in human testing. And all eleven firms that have banked $300 million or more had, like Electra, a drug in at least Phase 2 development. Electra is working on antibodies aimed at “signal regulatory proteins,” or SIRPs. These proteins are only found on the surface of certain immune cells, so targeting them with a drug could tackle certain immunological conditions without broadly suppressing the body’s defenses. With ipsoprubart, Electra is testing whether depleting myeloid and T cells expressing these proteins will have this kind of pinpoint effect. “[W]e believe our approach can do for immune-mediated diseases what precision oncology has done for cancer, transforming the treatment paradigm for patients,” the company wrote in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In patients with secondary HLH, overactive white blood cells overproduce cytokines, leading to inflammation that damages organs like the liver, skin and brain. Secondary HLH is managed with a mix of steroids, chemotherapy and anti-cytokine medicines. Some patients also receive a drug approved for the primary, inherited form of the disease if earlier treatment fails. Alongside the ongoing Phase 2/3 study in secondary HLH, ipsoprubart is also involved in an early-stage study in patients with certain blood cancers. Another Electra prospect, a monoclonal antibody called ELA822, recently entered Phase 1 testing and is being developed for other T-cell related inflammatory conditions. Last year, Electra, a former subsidiary of the biotech company creator Star Therapeutics, secured $183 million in venture funding from backers including Nextech Invest and EQT Life Sciences. Another company from Star, Vega Therapeutics, was acquired by Incyte in June in a deal worth as much as $2 billion. Electra will begin trading Friday morning on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “ETRA.”