Agomab Therapeutics is developing therapies for immunological and inflammatory diseases where fibrosis drives long-term damage. At the IPO price, Agomab was valued at roughly $780 million (€660 million), underscoring the scale of investor interest in its fibrosis-focused approach, even before it has a product on the market.
In recent years, CEO Tim Knotnerus has convinced big pharma from around the world to invest millions in the biotech company, including Pfizer (US), Sanofi (France), and Boehringer Ingelheim (Germany). Fidelity and EQT Life Sciences — two of the largest biotech investors in the world and Europe, respectively — have also put money on the table.
Now, Agomab is offering public investors the opportunity to be a part of its story.
Funding for a Focus on Fibrosis
Agomab has announced that the company plans to use IPO proceeds to support a global Phase 2b study in fibrostenosing Crohn’s disease — a severe form of Crohn’s where scarring can narrow the bowel and often lead to surgery.
Its most advanced candidate, ontunisertib (AGMB-129), is an oral, gut-restricted inhibitor of ALK5 (TGFβR1) designed to target fibrotic signaling locally in the intestine. This combination — a pill for a chronic condition with a high unmet need for targeted treatments — is obviously one of the things about Agomab that has caught investor attention.
Agomab’s broader pipeline also includes AGMB-447, a lung-targeted ALK5 inhibitor in early clinical development for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and AGMB-101, an HGF-mimetic antibody in preclinical testing, designed to activate the MET receptor in a pathway linked to tissue repair.
A Billion-dollar Biotech Week
Agomab’s debut lands in an unusually busy week for biotech IPOs, with several offerings adding up to over $1 billion in proceeds. This includes the year’s biggest biotech listing so far from cancer-focused Eikon Therapeutics, alongside newly priced deals from SpyGlass Pharma and Veradermics.
For Belgium’s life sciences ecosystem, the listing is a notable milestone. Antwerp-based Agomab is a Biovia member company, and it is also a V-Bio Ventures portfolio company. This underscores the strength of the local venture and cluster network, which supports companies like Agomab that scale from Flanders to global capital markets.
Along with Ghent-based Argenx, Agomab has clearly become one of Belgium’s most rapidly rising stars in health innovation — a company to keep an eye on.
