July a strong month for life sciences IPOs and M&A

The life sciences initial public offering (IPO) market continued to heat up in July as six life sciences companies completed IPOs during the month, with five of those new issues debuting in a single week, the busiest week for biotech IPOs in more than 13 years, according to global financial service firm Burrill & Co.

The last time so many companies completed IPOs in the sector in a single week was the week of February 7, 2000, when seven life sciences companies completed IPOs. In all, 29 life sciences companies raised a total of $5 billion on US exchanges through the first seven months of 2013. That compares to 11 companies raising $771 million during the same period a year ago.

Even excluding the $2.6 billion IPO of Pfizer’s animal health spin-out Zoetis, the sector is seeing its most robust period for IPOs since 2000. A total of 24 life sciences companies are in registration in the USA with four companies added to the IPO queue in July. The number does not include companies that may have filed confidentially under the JOBS Act, the Burrill report notes.