Agios Pharmaceuticals, a biotech developing metabolic treatments for cancer and rare genetic diseases, rose 73.8% in its market debut, making it the best biotech first-day return since Pain Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PTIE) rose 82.3% in its July 2000 debut. The company raised $106 million in an upsized IPO that valued the company at a market cap of $542 million, after originally setting terms for a deal that would have generated $75 million in proceeds at a market cap of $441 million. Agios' opening day vaults it ahead of last week's OncoMed (OMED), which saw its shares rise 59.9% on its first day of trading, for the best biotech first-day return in 2013. Agios is the fifth 2013 biotech deal to gain nearly 50% or more in its market debut.
| Top Five Biotech First-Day Returns of 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Ticker | Description | First-Day Return | Total Return |
| Agios Pharmaceuticals | AGIO | Pre-clinical cancer biotech | 74% | 74% |
| OncoMed Pharmaceuticals | OMED | Cancer biotech | 60% | 38% |
| bluebird bio | BLUE | Gene therapy biotech | 58% | 87% |
| Epizyme | EPZM | Early-stage cancer biotech |
53% | 134% |
| Prosensa | RNA | Late-stage orphan drug biotech |
48% | 110% |
