Apnimed secures $192 million in Nasdaq debut to fund sleep-apnea pill

Apnimed, a biotech firm headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, priced its Nasdaq IPO at $16 per share, raising $192 million and pushing its market valuation above $600 million. Kevin Lind, who took over as chief executive from co-founder Larry Miller in June, leads the company’s push to develop a pill that could replace the cumbersome CPAP device for sleep-apnea patients. The drug candidate, identified by chief scientific officer Luigi Taranto Monetemurro in 2016, is pending FDA approval with a decision anticipated in the first quarter of 2027.

Prior to the IPO, Apnimed secured $260 million from investors including Morningside Group, Alpha Wave Global and Sectoral Asset Management, and sold its 50% stake in a joint venture with Shionogi for $100 million plus milestones. The firm hopes to target the 10.5 million Americans diagnosed with sleep apnea who remain untreated, a market that could become a blockbuster if even a modest share adopts the pill. Recent FDA approval of Eli Lilly’s Zepbound for obese patients with sleep apnea underscores growing interest in pharmaceutical approaches to the disorder.