Nvidia-Backed Startup Tests Investor Appetite

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Nvidia-backed (NVDA) Iambic Therapeutics is heading toward the public markets, giving investors a new way to bet on the intersection of artificial intelligence and drug discovery. The San Diego biotech filed Monday for a U.S. initial public offering and plans to list on Nasdaq under the ticker IAM, with proceeds aimed primarily at advancing three cancer-drug programs through development.

Founded in 2019, Iambic uses artificial intelligence alongside automated chemistry and biology to identify and develop small-molecule medicines. The company has raised about $461.8 million from investors including Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Qatar Investment Authority, Coatue Management, Catalio and Nexus Ventures.

The IPO filing did not disclose the number of shares or proposed price range, although Renaissance Capital reported that the offering could raise as much as $100 million.

Iambic’s lead asset is IAM1363, an experimental oral HER2 inhibitor currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/1b study for solid tumors. Two additional candidates, IAM217 and IAM-C1, remain in preclinical development.

That pipeline makes the offering a higher-risk test of the AI-drug-discovery thesis. Iambic is still early in clinical development, meaning its valuation will depend heavily on whether its AI platform can translate promising computational drug design into successful human…