Aardvark Therapeutics targets hunger with IPO plans

USA – San Diego-based biotech Aardvark Therapeutics has filed for an IPO, joining a growing list of companies seeking to enter the Nasdaq.

The startup is aiming to carve out a niche in the highly competitive obesity field by focusing on hunger rather than appetite suppression.

Other biotechs lining up for Nasdaq listings include Metsera, Maze, Sionna, Odyssey, and Hong Kong-listed Ascentage Pharma, which recently debuted with a US $126.4 million offering.

At the core of Aardvark’s efforts is ARD-101, a bitter taste receptor (TAS2R) pan-agonist designed to stimulate enteroendocrine cells in the digestive tract.

This mechanism prompts the release of gut-peptide hormones, including GLP-1—famously utilized in blockbuster weight-loss drugs from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly—and the satiety hormone cholecystokinin.

Together, these hormones activate gut-brain signaling to reduce hunger, offering a novel approach to obesity management.

According to Aardvark, ARD-101 has demonstrated its ability to suppress appetite both on its own and when combined with Novo Nordisk’s and Lilly’s approved drugs.

The company has conducted three phase 2 trials to evaluate the drug. One study involving 20 patients with general obesity revealed that participants treated with ARD-101 experienced a 2.51-fold greater reduction in hunger ratings compared to placebo.

Another trial focused on 12 individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare genetic disorder characterized by constant hunger, showed that 11 participants experienced a reduction in severe hunger within 28 days.

Building on this momentum, Aardvark plans to initiate a phase 2 study targeting severe hunger and obesity associated with craniopharyngioma, a type of brain tumor.

While the company has not disclosed the valuation of its IPO, it revealed in its January 23 Securities and Exchange Commission filing that the proceeds will be used to advance ARD-101’s clinical development.

Funds will also support work on ARD-201, another obesity asset that combines ARD-101 with a DPP-4 inhibitor.

Since its founding in 2021, Aardvark has raised US $129.1 million, including a US $85 million Series C funding round in May 2024 led by Decheng Capital.

Aardvark’s IPO comes as the biotech sector cautiously reopens to public offerings. Alongside Aardvark, Ascentage Pharma recently debuted on the Nasdaq, raising US $126.4 million.

The Chinese company may raise an additiona USl $19 million if underwriters fully exercise their 30-day option to purchase 1.09 million more shares at US $17.25 apiece.

Ascentage plans to allocate US $60 million of the proceeds to seek approval for its cancer drug lisaftoclax in China and US $40 million for the U.S. development of its kinase inhibitor olverembatinib.