Drug developer MapLight Therapeutics valued at $704.3 million after US IPO

Oct 26 (Reuters) - Drug developer MapLight Therapeutics, backed by controlling shareholder Novo Holdings, is valued at $704.3 million on Sunday ahead of its Nasdaq debut, as biotech IPOs show signs of revival following a months-long freeze.

The Redwood City, California-based company priced the initial public offering at $17 per share. The shares of the company will begin trading on the Nasdaq on Monday under the ticker symbol "MPLT".

The company sold 14.75 million shares in the IPO to raise $250.8 million.

October has been relatively quiet in the IPO market, with much of the activity coming from deals that were reviewed by the SEC before the government shutdown.

MapLight's lead experimental drug candidate, ML-007C-MA, is currently being developed to treat schizophrenia and hallucinations and delusions caused by Alzheimer's disease.

The company expects data from the schizophrenia trial in the second half of 2026 and the Alzheimer’s trial in the second half of 2027.

The company was the first to tap the rarely used 20-day IPO rule after the U.S. government shutdown began earlier in October, as it sought to navigate the SEC closure to go public.

Besides Novo Holdings, MapLight is backed by nonprofit Catalyst4, which was founded by Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

LB Pharmaceuticals LBRX.O broke the dry spell with its New York debut last month - the first sizable biotech IPO since February, while drug developer Evommune is expected to go public next month.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management had indicated interest in buying up to $40 million of MapLight's shares in the offering.

Separately, funds managed by Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs GS.N were expected to buy 476,707 shares of MapLight in a concurrent private placement.