Panelists at the BIO International Convention discussed on June 26, 2026, recent changes affecting biotech initial public offerings and the regulatory landscape for pharmaceutical mergers. The conversation centered around a new initiative from the Securities and Exchange Commission, introduced by Chairman Paul Atkins and referred to as "Make IPOs Great Again" (MIPOGA), which aims to ease antitrust review of biotech IPO transactions.
The initiative, rolled out on May 19 as a pair of rulemakings called MIOGA, reduces disclosure requirements and speeds up the process for filing registered offerings. Sam Zucker, partner at Goodwin’s Life Sciences group, said these rules make it easier for companies to become public. "This doesn’t exactly impact the IPO process, but rather the company’s first year on the market, with provisions extending for its first five years," Zucker said. He added that this period is critical for companies in biotech due to close scrutiny of stock performance after trading begins.
Zucker also addressed possible reforms to "gun-jumping rules," which limit what companies can say about their intentions to go public. He described these rules as “kind of a minefield for companies,” and noted that reforms could be introduced later this year. Despite efforts to simplify regulations, Zucker pointed out that staffing shortages at the SEC may delay paperwork processing even if procedures are less complex.
Doreen Levine, partner at EY’s Financial Accounting and Advisory Services group, highlighted challenges with SEC disclosures during IPO filings. She advised against including excessive information in disclosures: “throw[ing] everything under the kitchen sink” could complicate comment periods with regulators.
The discussion also covered changes in Federal Trade Commission oversight regarding mergers and acquisitions within pharma. Casarine Chong, general counsel for R&D and business development at CSL, referenced AbbVie’s recent $10.9 billion acquisition of Apogee Therapeutics as an example of smoother regulatory approval compared to previous deals such as AbbVie’s purchase of Allergan in 2019 or Bristol Myers Squibb's acquisition of Celgene that same year. Chong said, “For the last several years, a lot of talk was around closing certainty and the antitrust landscape... I think the recently announced AbbVie deal shows that maybe that’s less of a risk now.”
Chong concluded by noting that while antitrust concerns appear reduced under current policy conditions, uncertainties remain regarding other risks such as drug pricing policies.
