The $700M Biotech That Got Rejected by Wall Street Is Back for Round Two

What Odyssey Actually Does

Founded by Gary D. Glick, Ph.D. (a serial biotech entrepreneur who previously built Lycera, IFM Therapeutics, and Scorpion Therapeutics), Odyssey is going after autoimmune and inflammatory diseases with a mix of small molecules and protein therapeutics.

The crown jewel is OD-07656, a RIPK2 inhibitor (think of it as a molecular switch that dials down inflammation) currently in Phase 2a trials for ulcerative colitis. It's designed to be first-in-class, meaning nobody else has an approved drug that works quite this way. Behind that, the pipeline fans out into preclinical programs targeting lupus, Sjögren's syndrome, asthma, COPD, and more.

The company also leans heavily on AI and computational chemistry to find drug targets that others consider "undruggable." It even acquired a quantum computing startup called Rahko back in 2021 to bolster that effort.

For this IPO, Odyssey has lined up J.P. Morgan, TD Cowen, and Cantor Fitzgerald as joint bookrunners, with Wedbush PacGrow and Oppenheimer also involved. That's a notably different roster from the 2025 attempt, which had Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, and TD Cowen leading the charge. New banks, new energy.

Why the Timing Might Finally Work

The biotech IPO market in early 2026 looks nothing like the wasteland of 2025. In Q1 alone, biopharma companies raised $1.7 billion in IPO proceeds, the highest quarterly total since the pandemic-fueled boom of 2021. Even more telling: the median amount raised per biotech IPO jumped to $287.5 million, more than double the figure from early 2025.

But investors aren't throwing money at anything with a molecule and a dream. All but one of the biotechs that went public in early 2026 had drugs in mid- or late-stage clinical testing. Preclinical companies have been essentially locked out since 2024. The market is rewarding proof, not promises.

That's actually great news for Odyssey. With a Phase 2a program in hand, over $700 million in prior funding, and a deep pipeline across multiple hot therapeutic areas (autoimmune diseases are having a moment), the company checks most of the boxes that today's investors are scanning for.

Analysts are projecting 30 to 35 biotech IPOs could happen in 2026, a significant rebound from 2025's dismal showing. The secondary market is also signaling confidence; in December 2025, eight biotechs raised $3.2 billion in follow-on offerings in a single day. Capital is flowing again, just more selectively.

The Bigger Picture

Odyssey's second IPO attempt is more than one company's do-over. It's a litmus test for the entire biotech public markets recovery.

When a well-funded, clinical-stage company with a credible pipeline and serious backers gets rejected by public markets, it tells you something about sentiment. When that same company comes back a year later and files again, it tells you sentiment has shifted. The question now is whether the shift is real or fragile.

Biotech IPOs have always been cyclical, swinging between feast and famine. The 2021 boom saw preclinical companies raise hundreds of millions on little more than a slide deck. The 2025 freeze saw mature companies with real data get turned away. The 2026 version looks more disciplined: investors want clinical proof, capital efficiency, and a clear path forward.

Odyssey fits that mold. It has the data (Phase 2a for its lead program), the money (over $700 million raised privately), and the team (a founder with multiple successful exits). The IPO hasn't priced yet, and specific terms like share count and price range are still to come.

But if Odyssey can pull this off, it won't just be a win for one company. It'll be a signal that the biotech IPO market is genuinely back, not just for the elite few, but for the next tier of clinical-stage players ready to make the leap.

Second chances don't come around often on Wall Street. Odyssey is betting this one counts.

The Drug Target Everyone Gave Up On Just Won Again

AstraZeneca's IL-33 blocker tozorakimab just posted its third consecutive Phase 3 win in COPD, on a drug target that Roche and Sanofi/Regeneron essentially failed to crack. With $3–5 billion in projected peak sales, this could be the biggest "I told you so" in respiratory medicine.