ADARx Pharmaceuticals is getting ready to go public, and investors are about to get another chance to bet on one of the hottest areas in biotech: RNA-based medicine.

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The San Diego biotech is targeting a valuation of up to $1.74 billion in its upcoming IPO. ADARx plans to sell 21.875 million shares for between $15 and $17 each, potentially raising roughly $372 million at the top of that range. The company plans to trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker ADRX.

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But there's another number here that caught my attention: $100 million.

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AbbVie ponies up! 

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AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) has agreed to invest up to $100 million in ADARx through a concurrent private placement. That would give the pharmaceutical giant roughly a 4.9% stake following the IPO.

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To be sure, AbbVie isn't exactly new to the company. In May 2025, AbbVie paid ADARx $335 million as part of a research collaboration. So the decision to potentially put another $100 million into the company suggests AbbVie remains interested in what ADARx is building.

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So what exactly is ADARx building?

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The company is developing drugs based on small interfering RNA, or siRNA, which can essentially shut down the production of specific proteins associated with disease.

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Instead of trying to block a harmful protein after the body makes it, siRNA therapies are designed to interfere with the genetic instructions used to make that protein in the first place.

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ADARx currently has three programs in clinical trials and another two in advanced preclinical development, targeting diseases involving the immune, kidney, cardiovascular, and neurological systems.

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Onvuzosiran for the win

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Its most advanced drug is onvuzosiran, which is being evaluated in late-stage testing for hereditary angioedema, or HAE. This is a rare genetic disease that can cause sudden and potentially dangerous episodes of swelling. Onvuzosiran is designed to reduce production of a protein involved in the biological process that triggers those attacks.

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Worth noting: this late-stage program helps separate ADARx from some of the much earlier-stage biotechs attempting to go public.

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The biotech IPO market has been showing signs of life again, particularly for companies with later-stage drug candidates and relationships with larger pharmaceutical companies. ADARx checks both of those boxes. And with AbbVie potentially putting another $100 million on the table, this is one biotech IPO I'll be watching closely. You should, too.

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