When Bristol Myers Squibb agreed to buy heart drug developer MyoKardia for $13 billion back in 2020, the deal largely revolved around one asset. Nearly six years later, that asset, sold as Camzyos, generates more than $1 billion a year as a treatment for an often genetic condition that makes heart muscle thick and rigid.
While Bristol Myers also held onto a potential successor to Camzyos, it ultimately sold the rights to another drug from the acquisition to Kardigan — a young biotechnology company created by former MyoKardia leaders. Kardigan recently ushered that drug, along with two others licensed from Sanofi and Ionis Pharmaceuticals, through mid-stage clinical trials.
Investors appear confident that the Kardigan team can repeat what they achieved at MyoKardia. The startup had raised close to $600 million in private venture funding ahead of last week, when it brought in $400 million more through an initial public offering. The haul is the latest example of a surge in large IPOs for biotechs.
BioPharma Dive spoke with Kardigan CEO Tassos Gianakakos about his company’s IPO roadshow and what made this time around easier. Gianakakos also posited why public offerings have gotten so massive and whether these could spur some market frothiness. The following conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
