Best Performing IPOs of 2014 Are in Biotech

By Jon C. Ogg Updated Feb 27, 6:27AM EST · Published Feb 26, 3:38PM EST

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The initial public offering market has been rather strong in 2014. After we recently featured our Top 10 IPOs to Watch in 2014, we took a look at the batch of the many IPOs which have already come public. It turns out the top five performing IPOs are biotech companies.

24/7 Wall St. would remind readers that an IPO performance is technically against its pricing rather than the post-IPO low. Still, we have shown this performance as well, and they are generally more than impressive.

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: DRNA) priced at $15, and the price of $43.33 on Wednesday was up for a gain of almost 190%. Dicerna’s post-IPO range is $27.00 to $44.95, meaning that this one never even bothered trading close to its IPO. Oddly enough, this one just kept rising. Dicerna is targeting treatments for liver diseases and cancers based on a proprietary RNA interference technology platform.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: RARE) was down almost 7% at $54.80 in late day trading on Wednesday, yet this is still up 157% or so from the $21 IPO price. Trading has been very volatile since its January 31 IPO has been in a range of $35.00 to $63.86. This company is targeting rare and ultra-rare diseases, which will almost certainly come with incredibly high profit margin treatments (and price tags to those with the diseases).

Auspex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ASPX) is still up more than 13% from its IPO pricing of $12.00 per share. Auspex is up 136% at $28.30 after its $12.00 IPO in early February. This post-IPO range has been $13.25 to $29.24, so investors could have gotten in while there were gains to be made in the post-IPO trading as well. Auspex is targeting Huntington’s Disease, tardive dyskinesia, and Tourette syndrome.

Revance Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: RVNC) is up over 83% at $29.35 after its IPO priced at $16.00 on February 6. Its post-IPO trading range has been $21.00 to $31.00. Revance is developing botulinum toxin products aimed at changing the botulinum toxin landscape in aesthetic and therapeutic dermatology.

Eleven Biotherapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: EBIO) is up 71% at $17.14 after pricing at $10.00 on February 6. Its post-IPO trading has been in a range of $10.11 to $19.33. Eleven’s designated target is for both surface and back of the eye ocular diseases.

Biotech is not the only sector that has seen deals in 2014, but it sure makes us wonder why more of the top ten IPOs to watch in 2014 are in biotech.

About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.