The first biotech IPO of the new decade has land­ed — and of course it's an­oth­er can­cer drug de­vel­op­er

The first biotech IPO of 2020 is here, and it’s for a com­pa­ny found­ed by two mar­quee names in on­col­o­gy.

Cam­bridge-based Black Di­a­mond Ther­a­peu­tics filed on Fri­day for an IPO worth up to $100 mil­lion, be­com­ing the first biotech of the decade to an­nounce their in­ten­tion to go pub­lic. They’ll use their pro­ceeds to bring their new onco­gene ap­proach in­to the clin­ic.

The fact that an on­col­o­gy biotech will be the first IPO of the new decade should come as lit­tle sur­prise. The cal­en­dar may have changed but the ba­sic in­cen­tives that have dri­ven record in­vest­ment in­to and rev­enue from can­cer drugs haven’t. Last year’s first IPO — Po­sei­da Ther­a­peu­tics — was al­so a can­cer-fo­cused biotech.

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