Iambic Therapeutics, a startup using artificial intelligence to find new medicines, said Wednesday it raised $150 million in an initial public offering.
The startup sold close to 9.4 million shares at $16 each, and will begin trading publicly on the Nasdaq Thursday under the ticker symbol “IAM.”
Private investors have furnished Iambic with $462 million since its launch in 2019, giving it the firepower needed to launch its first drug, a targeted cancer treatment, into early human testing. Its prior backers include Nexus, Catalio Capital Management, Abingworth and Illumina Ventures.
Iambic is part of a wave of fledgling biotechnology firms using AI to discover new medicines. The chance for AI to not only accelerate drugmaking, but also boost companies’ odds of success has captured the attention of venture investors and pharmaceutical companies alike. Many billions of dollars have been invested in young AI drug discovery companies, and several large firms have begun integrating the technology across various parts of their operations.
Still, multiple drug companies built on AI technology have struggled since going public. The hype surrounding AI has also sparked concerns that companies in the space might be prone to exaggerating what they’re able to deliver. The CEO of Isomorphic Labs, a high-profile, Alphabet-backed startup reportedly raising a substantial funding round, has said the company’s goal is to “solve all diseases” with AI.
Iambic made bold claims in its IPO filing as well, writing that it’s “pursuing a fundamental shift in the biopharmaceutical industry” with an approach that can “disrupt legacy drug discovery paradigms.” It’s using AI tools across the spectrum of drug research, assisting with everything from quickly identifying potential medicines to optimizing them and predicting how they might fare in testing.
The “utility” of this strategy is demonstrated by the company’s pipeline, which it says is full of programs targeting “multi-billion dollar market opportunities.”
The company’s first drug is known as “IAM1363,” and is being developed for HER2-positive solid tumors. Iambic believes the drug, an oral medicine called a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has a “distinct” structure that could make it particularly selective while covering a broad spectrum of HER2 variants. This could make the drug useful against several different HER2-driven solid tumors, including cancers of the breast and lung, Iambic said.
Early data from a Phase 1 study showed “clinical anti-tumor activity” and an encouraging safety profile in patients who had tried, and failed, multiple lines of treatment. A registrational trial could begin as soon as 2027, according to a regulatory filing.
Behind that therapy is another cancer drug called “IAM217” that goes after the protein target KIF18A. Iambic plans to develop it for types of ovarian cancer, triple-negative breast cancer, and other solid tumors. A third prospect targeting CDK2 and CDK4 and seen as a possible treatment for a common breast tumor is also in development. Both could enter testing next year.
Iambic’s technology has attracted interest from an array of partners, from big drugmakers like Takeda Pharmaceutical and AbbVie to biotechs such as Jazz Pharmaceuticals and Revolution Medicines.
Twenty-five biotechs have now priced IPOs in 2026, per BioPharma Dive data, a rate that far outstrips 2025’s anemic total. Multiple others, including cell therapy maker Aspen Neuroscience and protein degrader developer Lycia Therapeutics, could join those ranks before the end of the year.
