Rubius Therapeutics went public in 2018 at a $2 billion valuation — the largest biotech stock market debut at that time. On Wednesday, the company — battered down to a market value of $15 million — said it was shutting down and liquidating all of its remaining assets.
The official end of Rubius marks one of biotech’s highest-profile flameouts. It’s also the unsurprising result of a particularly ignominious biotech financing trend: venture capitalists and their investment bankers foisting ultra-risky startups with zero clinical trial data onto the public markets.
The risk shifting has not worked out well for investors. Rubius shares have lost 99% of their value since its IPO in July 2018. Five other preclinical biotech IPOs went public around the same time as Rubius. Collectively, their stocks are down 84%.
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