AgomAb and Spyglass push the IPO button
Glimmers of a resurgence in biotech IPO activity in 2026 have continued with the news that two more companies – Belgium's AgomAb Therapeutics and SpyGlass Pharma of the US – are sizing up investor interest.
Both are looking at listing on the Nasdaq, on the global and global select markets, respectively, and have placeholder raise targets of around $100 million, although neither has provided any details yet of their pricing plans.
Antwerp-based AgomAb is focused on immunology and inflammation, with an emphasis on diseases that lead to fibrosis (scarring) and organ failure, and has two small-molecule candidates in clinical testing.
The furthest along is ontunisertib (AGMB-129), an ALK5 inhibitor designed to be retained in the gastrointestinal tract, reducing systemic side effects, which is in a phase 2a trial in fibrostenosing Crohn's disease.
In addition, AgomAb has a lung-restricted ALK5 inhibitor (AGMB-447) in early human testing with aspirations to develop it for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and a MET agonist (AGMB-101) in late preclinical development.
The company, which filed its IPO under wraps last year, plans to list under the AGMB symbol.
Meanwhile, Aliso Viejo, California-based SpyGlass is concentrating on the development of drug-delivering intraocular implants for chronic ophthalmic disease, and is a little further ahead with its clinical programmes, with a candidate for glaucoma in phase 3.
The lead project is an intraocular lens (IOL) delivering bimatoprost, a well-established prostaglandin analogue therapy for reducing intraocular pressure (IOP) in glaucoma and ocular hypertension, which is designed to deliver the drug for three years. At the moment, bimatoprost is delivered as daily eyedrops.
Last November, SpyGlass reported three-month data from a phase 1/2 trial of the implant, known as the BIM-IOL System, showing that there was an approximately 37% reduction in IOP with almost all (96% plus) of subjects able to stop using eyedrops.
It also reported three-year data from its first-in-human study, which showed the IOP-reducing activity was maintained at 37% throughout the follow-up period at all dose groups.
The BIM-IOL is designed to be implanted during cataract surgery, tackling IOP while restoring vision, and SpyGlass is also working on a non-lens-based bimatoprost implant for standalone use as a glaucoma treatment.
It plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol SGP.
The start of 2026 has already seen Aktis Oncology start trading on the Nasdaq, while two other biotechs – hair regrowth therapy developer Veradermics and cancer specialist Eikon – filed this month. Investors and industry watchers have been speculating about an opening of the IPO window for biotechs after a lacklustre 2024 and 2025.
