A Fresh IPO That Long-Term Investors Shouldn’t Ignore

Key Points

• While IPOs are often labeled as high-risk startups, some are worthy of more conservative investors’ attention.
• Aktis Oncology’s IPO—the first biotech IPO of 2026—resulted in a $318 million raise, with the biotech firm receiving $100 million in backing from Big Pharma giant Eli Lilly.
• The company, which now has a market cap of $3.34 billion, develops radiopharmaceuticals and is positioned for long-term success after being listed on the Nasdaq.

For speculative investors, the start of each year is always a good time to revisit an initial public offering (IPO) calendar. Almost every week, companies go public, with a handful of them offering considerable short-term upside potential. 

Of course, they also carry substantial downside risk. But even for conservative investors who err on the side of caution, some stocks that have recently IPO’ed shouldn’t be overlooked, as they may justify a place in buy-and-hold portfolios. 

For one biotechnology company in the healthcare sector that just went public, that could precisely be the case. 

Last Year’s IPO Success Stories  

Last year serves as a strong example of why these companies shouldn’t be dismissed by investors with lower risk tolerances.   

AI cloud computing provider CoreWeave NASDAQ: CRWV, which went public in March 2025, is up nearly 123% since then. While short-term speculators may have capitalized on its nearly 359% gain before hitting 30 days listed on the Nasdaq, those who hung in are still enjoying strong returns. 

Others, such as Medline NASDAQ: MDLN, refute the misconception that IPOs are all high-risk startups. The medical products and services provider, which publicly debuted in December 2025, was founded in 1966 and already boasts a market cap in excess of $55 billion.

Similarly, Smithfield Foods NASDAQ: SFD—famous for its ubiquitous packages of bacon—waited 89 years before its IPO. Since going public in January 2025, the stock is up nearly 5%, but it has also rewarded shareholders with a dividend that currently yields 4.44%, or $1 per share annually, making it an immediate consideration for income investors.   

After its IPO and with shares hitting the market on Jan. 9, Aktis Oncology NASDAQ: AKTS, a maker of radiopharmaceuticals, is hoping for a similar outcome in 2026 and beyond. 

Why Are Radiopharmaceuticals Important?

Aktis Oncology specializes in radiopharmaceuticals—a subset of nuclear medicine that uses radioactive drugs for both diagnostics and treatment of ailments including cancer, heart disease and neurological conditions. 

Specifically, radiopharmaceuticals combine radioactive isotopes with a targeting module, which has the ability to seek out particular cells (e.g., cancer cells) in order to deliver localized doses of radiation, thereby minimizing harm to healthy tissue that could be adversely affected by conventional radiology treatments. 

According to industry consultancy firm Grand View Research, the global nuclear medicine market size, which was estimated at nearly $18 billion in 2024, is forecast to reach nearly $35 billion by 2030—that’s good for a compound annual growth rate of 10.16%. 

Importantly for Boston-based Aktis Oncology, Grand View Research cites that the North American segment accounts for nearly 43% of the global nuclear medicine market, of which the United States is the predominant player. 

Aktis Oncology’s Clinical Stage Biotechnology

Wall Street is expecting biotech IPOs to rebound in 2026 after funding cuts by the Trump administration notably slowed listings from the healthcare sector in 2025. 

Aktis Oncology, which debuted on the Nasdaq on Jan. 9, marked the first biotech IPO of 2026 and resulted in one of the largest raises for a biotech IPO in recent memory. With $318 million in IPO funding, the firm now sports a market cap of $3.34 billion.

According to the company’s prospectus, its executive team includes experts in drug development, approval, and commercialization, with members of management having participated in 14 currently FDA-approved products being brought to market. 

On a granular level, Aktis Oncology develops targeted alpha radiopharmaceuticals, a new class of precision cancer drugs using proprietary technology that targets solid tumors while sparing healthy tissue.

Aktis Oncology’s Eli Lilly Connection

Notably, the firm is a clinical-stage, pre-revenue company. But that did not deter its biotechnology from grabbing the attention of Eli Lilly NYSE: LLY, which anchored its IPO. 

According to Reuters, Eli Lilly purchased $100 million worth of AKTS shares. The move builds upon an existing relationship between the two companies that dates to 2024 and aims to develop tumor-targeting radiopharmaceuticals. As part of that pact, Eli Lilly committed $60 million in cash to go along with an equity investment in Aktis Oncology. 

Lilly's move builds on its partnership with Aktis Oncology, struck in 2024, to develop tumor-targeting radiopharmaceuticals. As part of that deal, Aktis received $60 million in cash along with an equity investment from Eli Lilly with potential milestone payments exceeding $1 billion.

The significance of Aktis Oncology’s backing by Eli Lilly cannot be overstated. At $1.01 trillion, the latter is the largest Big Pharma company by market cap after the company’s net income (a.k.a. profit) jumped nearly 109% year-over-year from 2023 to 2024. That trend is likely to continue when Eli Lilly reports Q4 and 2025 full-year financials on Feb. 5. 

Between its equity stake and the recent $100 million in AKTS shares purchased, the maker of Zepbound now has a sizable financial interest in the biotech startup’s success.