John F. Milligan

New Capabilities

Serving as board chair

Kailera Therapeutics just pulled off the largest biotech initial public offering in history, raising $625 million and watching its shares surge 62.5% on the first day of trading. The company, founded less than two years ago with drugs licensed from a Chinese pharmaceutical firm, is now valued at roughly $3.5 billion — without a single approved product. That a startup built entirely around next-generation obesity drugs can command this kind of investor enthusiasm tells you where the pharmaceutical industry's center of gravity has shifted.

Updated May 31