After a record run, fewer biotechs are going public. Here's how they're performing.

At the start of the last decade, the IPO markets weren't receptive to biotech companies. But by 2013, public investment was pouring into the industry, drawn by scientific advances and boosted by the newfound interest of a broader range of investors.

Biotechs and their backers reaped the rewards for nearly 10 years, as more young drugmakers than ever went public at valuations many times what was typical in the 2000s. In 2021, despite industry disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 100 biotechs priced an IPO, raising nearly $15 billion in funds.

That momentum has come quickly to a halt, however. Stock prices of newly public companies plummeted in late 2021 amid a sector-wide downturn, weakening interest in biotech offerings. The pace of IPOs stalled, leaving emerging biotechs with a tougher road to the public markets.