TRex Bio Inc. (ASX: TRXB) raised $116.7 million through its IPO, pricing shares at the low end of its marketed range, according to a statement released Thursday. The early-stage biotechnology company, which focuses on autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, sold approximately 8.3 million shares at $14 each. A previous filing showed the company had guided a range of $14 to $16 per share.
Based on the IPO price, the San Francisco-based TRex Bio Inc. (ASX: TRXB) carries a market value of $384 million, calculated using the share count listed in filings. The company's investors include Eli Lilly and Company (ASX: LLY), SV Health Investors, Pfizer Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Janus Henderson Investors, Alexandria Venture Investments, Delos Capital, and Polaris Partners. Earlier filings indicated that Eli Lilly and Company (ASX: LLY) had expressed interest in subscribing for shares in the IPO but did not intend to let its stake exceed 19.9%.
Total Volume Heated, Returns Diverging
TRex Bio Inc. (ASX: TRXB) is expected to extend what has been a hot year for U.S. healthcare listings. According to compiled data, biotechnology and pharmaceutical IPOs have raised nearly $8 billion so far this year, almost six times the amount raised during the same period last year.
However, its pricing reflects a direct projection of the "broadly hot but sharply divergent" pattern in 2026 biopharma IPOs: the sector's weighted average return year-to-date is roughly +55%, but nearly all of those gains have come from "platform-type, multi-pipeline, near-catalyst" names. Looking ahead, platform companies with multiple pipelines such as Parabilis Medicines and BillionToOne posted first-day gains of 66%; single-asset, single-indication companies such as Electra Therapeutics broke issue price on their first day. Investors are pricing "the specific risks of the story" rather than awarding a uniform premium to the entire sector.
In addition, the closer a company is to a binary readout — a Phase III trial imminent, a marketing application already filed — the more it is sought after; names whose key data will not arrive for more than 18 months generally receive no premium or even break issue price. TRex Bio Inc. (ASX: TRXB), with its "single asset, Phase I clinical stage, key data not expected until mid-2027" profile, is precisely the segment that the market began to discount selectively in the second half of the year.
Demand for the deal was real but shallow, and Eli Lilly and Company (ASX: LLY)'s strategic endorsement was only enough to get the transaction "out the door," not enough to support a premium within the range. The company plans to use the proceeds to advance its core candidate TRB-061, which is currently in early-stage clinical trials in patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis. Filings show the company expects to report topline data for this investigational therapy by the middle of next year. In addition, the company plans to launch a Phase I clinical trial of TRB-071, an investigational drug for inflammatory bowel disease, in the first half of 2027.
In January, TRex Bio Inc. (ASX: TRXB) raised $50 million through an additional closing of its Series B preferred shares, with new investors including Janus Henderson and Balyasny Asset Management. CEO Johnston Erwin spent 36 years at Eli Lilly and Company (ASX: LLY) before joining the company, where he previously led Lilly New Ventures, the company's internal venture capital arm.
Filings previously showed the company posted a net loss of $34.8 million in 2025, compared with a net loss of $3.1 million the year before. The offering was led by JPMorgan, Evercore, Cantor Fitzgerald, Stifel Financial, and Wedbush PacGrow. The shares are expected to begin trading Friday on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol (TRXB.US).