It turns out IPO dollar amounts don't predict much

The difference between $60 million and $80 million is about enough to buy the Magna Carta. But when it comes to predicting whether a biotech IPO will flourish, it turns out to be pretty negligible.

EP Vantage looked at nearly 250 biotech IPOs over five years and found that the amount of money raised had almost no correlation with the long-term success of the company. Over time, the dollar figures have risen, and so too the valuations, but the spread of winners and losers has been pretty consistent.

What’s particularly interesting is that EP Vantage’s findings also don’t support the emerging idea that companies with high valuations make for mediocre IPOs. Ex-unicorns Moderna Therapeutics and Rubius Therapeutics have seen their share prices slump after going public, but the likes of Allogene, Denali Therapeutics, and Orchard Therapeutics are doing just fine.