The pharmaceutical industry continues to attract investments aimed at advancing treatments and therapies for rare diseases, with both Hemab Therapeutics and Zag Bio recently announcing the closing of funding rounds aimed at advancing treatments for bleeding disorders and autoimmune diseases respectively. Along with the investments into rare disease treatments, the pharmaceutical sector has also announced initial public offering prices, including MapLight Therapeutics’s recent initial pricing announcement.

Zag Bio

Zag Bio announced the company’s launch with a $80 million financing round, which includes a recently closed Series A financing.¹ Zag Bio was founded by Polaris Partners, who co-led the Series A financing with the T1D Fund, which included participation from the following investors:

• Mission BioCapital
• AbbVie Ventures
• Lightspeed Ventures
• Sanofi Ventures
• KdT Ventures
• Regeneron Ventures
• Boxer Capital
• Pear VC
• The company also revealed its appointment of biotech industry veteran Jason F. Cole, J.D., as the company’s Chief Executive Officer and Board member.

The proceeds from the financing round are expected to be used to advance Zag Bio’s lead program into the clinic as a tolerogenic therapy preventing or delaying the onset of Type 1 diabetes.¹ The financing is also expected to enable Zag Bio to continue advancing its discovery programs for a variety of other autoimmune diseases.

“The significant progress by the Zag Bio team coupled with our recent financing enables the company to rapidly advance our lead program to the clinic. Zag Bio is trailblazing an unprecedented therapeutic pathway for medicines to target the thymus, and this positions the company to be an innovator in autoimmune disease treatment with the potential to help millions of patients,” said Alan Crane, co-founder and chairman of Zag Bio and entrepreneur partner at Polaris Partners.

MapLight Therapeutics

MapLight Therapeutics revealed its initial public offering price for 14,750,000 shares of common stock, priced at $17.00 per share, with all of the shares of common stock being offered by MapLight.² The company also granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase upwards of 2,212,500 additional shares of common stock at the initial public offering price, along with less underwriting discounts and commissions.² Additionally, MapLight announced a concurrent sale of 476,707 shares of common stock, at the initial public offering price per share, in a private placement to affiliates of Goldman Sachs & Co., which includes select investment funds managed by Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC.² According to MapLight’s press release, the sale of shares of common stock in the private placement will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933. Proceeds from the public offering and the concurrent private placement, along with forgoing the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares, and before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses, are estimated to be upwards of $258.9 million.²

Hemab Therapeutics

Hemab Therapeutics announced the successful closing of a multifold oversubscribed $157 million Series C financing round, led by Sofinnova Partners, and with substantial participation from a large long-only global asset management company.³ The company also announced participation from several new investors, including a large global sovereign wealth fund, and Avoro Capital Advisors, as well as participation from its existing investors, such as RA Capital Management, Novo Holdings, Access Biotechnology, Deep Track Capital, HealthCap, Invus, Avoro Ventures, Maj Invest Equity, and Rock Springs Capital.³

The financing round follows Hemab’s treatment for Glanzmann thrombasthenia (GT), Sutacimig’s successful completion of its Phase II study in GT, which is planned for advancement in a registration study scheduled for 2026, alongside expansion into a Phase II study in Factor VII deficiency.³

The quality of our investor syndicate and this significant financing validate our approach and enable us to continue building what we believe will become the ultimate clotting company," said Benny Sorensen, MD, PhD, CEO of Hemab. "We carefully listen to people living with clotting diseases and collaborate closely with patients and families affected by these conditions and families to deliver 21st century treatment options. Hemab's unprecedented deep domain expertise in clotting science, combined with our team's proven capabilities in advancing programs from early development through approval and commercialization, uniquely positions us to deliver breakthrough therapies. This funding accelerates our mission of transforming lives for people who have waited far too long."

Sources

1. Zag Bio Launches with $80 Million Financing to Advance Thymus-targeted Medicines for Autoimmune Diseases Zag Bio October 28, 2025 https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/10/28/3175235/0/en/Zag-Bio-Launches-with-80-Million-Financing-to-Advance-Thymus-targeted-Medicines-for-Autoimmune-Diseases.html
2. MapLight Therapeutics Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering October 26, 2025 https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/10/26/3174262/0/en/MapLight-Therapeutics-Announces-Pricing-of-Initial-Public-Offering.html
3. Hemab Therapeutics Announces $157 Million Series C Financing to Advance Next-Generation Treatments for Underserved Bleeding Disorders Hemab Therapeutics October 27, 2025 https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hemab-therapeutics-announces-157-million-series-c-financing-to-advance-next-generation-treatments-for-underserved-bleeding-disorders-302594712.html