Dive Brief:

• Summit Therapeutics, developer of a leading experimental lung cancer drug, on Wednesday pulled plans for a $500 million secondary share offering it announced a day before, citing “market conditions.”
• The proposed offering came nine days after Summit’s partner Akeso detailed positive data from a China-based Phase 3 lung cancer trial of an experimental drug, “ivonescimab,” they are developing together. The drug, which targets the proteins PD-1 and VEGF, is in a global Phase 3 trial that the partners hope will support Food and Drug Administration approval.
• Summit’s cancellation comes amid an otherwise healthy environment for biotechnology share sales as a closely watched index of biotech companies’ share prices is now more than 30% higher than it was a year ago. However, Summit’s stock has gone a different direction as mixed data for ivonescimab has emerged and debate over its promise has simmered among investors and doctors.

Dive Insight:

A secondary share sale following positive clinical trial data is a time-tested strategic measure for biotech companies, taking advantage of a stock price uplift to support fundraising.

This hasn’t worked in Summit’s favor, however, as its shares slumped after data from the late-stage China trial were fully outlined at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting. A separate, global Phase 3 study that pairs ivonescimab with Keytruda as a frontline treatment for lung cancer didn’t show the combination was better than Keytruda alone in an early data check in the weeks leading up to ASCO, energizing the debate over its efficacy.

The Florida-based company isn’t in immediate need of money. It held nearly $600 million in cash, equivalents and short-term investments as of March 31.

But it is also spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year on research and development and other expenses, meaning its runway could be short . A Leerink Partners forecast earlier this year suggested Summit might be close to exhausting its cash pile in 2027, when anticipated regulatory review and early commercialization takes place.

While Summit has pulled its secondary offering, the market for biotech initial public offerings appears healthier than it has in some time. A dozen formerly privately-held drug startups have gone public in 2026, including a new record-sized IPO on Wednesday, raising a total of more than $4 billion.