MapLight’s $251m IPO sees schizophrenia drug developers on top

MapLight Therapeutics aims to raise around $251m via an initial public offering (IPO), a figure that would propel the biotech to the upper echelons of the sector’s public listing value so far in 2025.

Illuminating its plans, neurological disease specialist MapLight said it would offer 14,750,000 shares of its common stock at $17.00 per share, which works out to an IPO of around $251m. The biotech will trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “MPLT.”

In terms of timings, MapLight has used a regulatory workaround to ensure the IPO goes through amid the US government shutdown. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is operating at a significantly reduced capacity, meaning public listings and other stock-related activities have stalled.

MapLight has filed under a specific provision of the Securities Act that stipulates a registration statement automatically becomes effective 20 calendar days after the date of filing.

The biotech was keen to highlight that hurdles could still present themselves, stating that reliance on the section “could result in a number of potential adverse consequences”. This could include a “stop order” issued by the SEC, or the need for further filing amendments.

If the IPO were to go-ahead smoothly, MapLight has already devised a plan to divvy the funds. Most of the tranche will be used on its lead candidate ML-007C-MA, in development for schizophrenia. Up to $120m will be used to finance the ongoing Phase II study (NCT07038876) with the M1/M4 muscarinic agonist, which commenced last year with 300 patients enrolled.

A further $70m is outlaid for a separate Phase II study (NCT06887192) of ML-007C-MA in Alzheimer’s disease psychosis. The remainder of the IPO proceeds will be used on the rest of the biotech’s pipeline, which includes autism spectrum disorder (ASD) candidate ML-004, and preclinical assets for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and hyperactivity disorders.

MapLight’s work has already attracted the interest of big pharma, with both Sanofi and Novo Nordisk parent company Novo Holdings as financial backers of the biotech. The company raised $372.5m in a hefty Series D financing round. However, MapLight has exhausted funds in its development efforts, with cash to hand totalling $60.5m.

MapLight’s IPO would follow the public jump made by fellow schizophrenia drug developer LB Pharmaceuticals in September. LB tested investor waters after a freeze in the biotech IPO landscape. Ultimately raising $285m, LB was received warmly on Wall Street, in doing becoming the largest biotech IPO in 2025 so far.

The schizophrenia treatment space is one seeing renewed optimism, kick-started by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Bristol Myers Squibb’s Cobenfy (xanomeline-trospium) in September 2024. The approval marked the first new pharmaceutical option for schizophrenia patients in decades. The drug is forecast to generate $3.8bn in annual sales by 2031, according to GlobalData analysis.

GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.

MapLight and LB’s efforts could suggest a strong finish is in store for the 2025 IPO scene. Up until LB’s listing, no biotechs made the public jump with a sizeable raise since February.

The year started with optimism on the back of a 2024 that showed signs of recovery, with a heap of companies conducting IPOs in January. The pick of the bunch was obesity biotech Metsera, with a $275m listing on the Nasdaq. Renal and metabolic drug-focused company Maze Therapeutics, meanwhile, raised $140m via an IPO on the same day as Metsera in January. Aardvark Therapeutics was the final biotech that raised a sizeable amount with its $94m offering.

As always, however, market volatility due to macroeconomic policy shifts in the US has created an unpredictable IPO landscape. Autoimmune and inflammatory disease specialist Odyssey Therapeutics bailed on a planned IPO in June 2025, citing poor market conditions.

“MapLight’s $251m IPO sees schizophrenia drug developers on top” was originally created and published by Pharmaceutical Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.

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