--- title: "Aardvark Therapeutics files for IPO of common stock" url: "https://aibio.space/news/aardvark-therapeutics-files-ipo-common-stock-seeks-nasdaq-listing-aard/" publisher: "aibio.space (Biotech Investor Relations News)" date: "2025-01-23" section: "Financings" tickers: "NASDAQ:AARD" source: "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1774857/000119312525011499/d882459ds1.htm" summary: "The company applied to list on the Nasdaq Global Market. Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, Cantor and RBC Capital Markets are the underwriters named on the" --- By the aibio.space news desk. Sources - [Aardvark Therapeutics, Inc. S-1 (2025-01-23)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1774857/000119312525011499/d882459ds1.htm) [AARD](https://aibio.space/companies/aardvark-therapeutics/) 2025-01-23 # Aardvark Therapeutics files for IPO of common stock, seeks Nasdaq listing as AARD Tickers [AARD](https://aibio.space/companies/aardvark-therapeutics/) The company applied to list on the Nasdaq Global Market. Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, Cantor and RBC Capital Markets are the underwriters named on the cover. ## Key facts - **Company**: Aardvark Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AARD) - **News type**: Financings - **Primary source**: [Aardvark Therapeutics, Inc. S-1 (2025-01-23)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1774857/000119312525011499/d882459ds1.htm) *Midtown Manhattan and a downtown tower in haze. CC0, via rawpixel. The picture shows the field, not the companies named.* ## The filing Aardvark Therapeutics, Inc. filed a registration statement on Form S-1 on January 23, 2025 for an initial public offering of its common stock. The preliminary prospectus is subject to completion, and the number of shares, the price range and the preliminary cash figure are all left blank. No public market currently exists for the stock. The company has applied to list the shares on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "AARD," and the offering depends on approval of that listing. Aardvark is an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company, and it has elected to follow certain reduced reporting requirements. The offices are at 4370 La Jolla Village Drive in San Diego. ## Underwriters and counsel The cover names Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, Cantor and RBC Capital Markets as the underwriters. The company has given them a 30-day option to buy additional shares solely to cover over-allotments, if any, and the number of those shares is blank. The "copies to" list on the filing names Paul Hastings LLP in Palo Alto and Cooley LLP in San Diego, and it does not say which firm acts for the company and which for the underwriters. ## The science Aardvark calls itself a clinical-stage company developing small-molecule drugs for metabolic diseases by targeting bitter taste receptors, known as TAS2Rs, in the gut. Its lead candidate, ARD-101, is an oral, gut-restricted drug for hyperphagia, or extreme hunger, associated with Prader-Willi Syndrome. The company began a Phase 3 trial, called HERO, in December 2024 after aligning with the FDA on the protocol, and it says it expects topline data in early 2026. It also intends to start a Phase 2 trial in hyperphagia after treatment for craniopharyngioma, called HONOR. The evidence so far is small. In the completed Phase 2 trial, 12 subjects finished treatment at 200 mg twice daily with no treatment-related adverse events, and the eight with HQ-CT 9 scores saw an average decline of approximately seven points. In a second part, four subjects were dosed under a revised protocol and showed a decrease of approximately seven points at 28 days, with only grade 1 treatment-related adverse events. Those are very small groups in an early trial, and the company describes ARD-101 only as well tolerated and as showing clinical activity. The company says the Phase 3 design should be sufficient to support a new drug application, but that is its own belief. A second program, ARD-201, combines ARD-101 with a DPP-4 inhibitor for obesity. The company's support so far is from preclinical studies and from Phase 2a data on ARD-101 showing reduced hunger ratings. It plans a Phase 2 trial called EMPOWER. The prospectus lists a crowded field in obesity, including Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Roche, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Amgen, Zealand Pharma, Viking Therapeutics, Altimmune, Terns Pharmaceuticals, Merck and Structure Therapeutics. It also says that earlier attempts to activate cholecystokinin receptors directly were limited by safety concerns, including pancreatitis. ## Money and losses Aardvark reported a net loss of $13.6 million for 2022 and $7.2 million for 2023. For the nine months ended September 30, 2024 it reported a net loss of $11.8 million, against $5.2 million in the same period of 2023. The accumulated deficit was $49.5 million at September 30, 2024. The company says it has raised $129.1 million since its inception in 2017, most recently an $85.0 million Series C financing led by Decheng Capital in May 2024. The company says ARD-101 and ARD-201 need substantial additional development time and resources before it could apply for or receive marketing approval, that it expects to keep losing money, and that it will need more capital from public or private equity or debt financings or collaborations. The founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Tien Lee, founded the company in 2017. [Report an error](https://aibio.space/reputation/#correction) ## Companies in this story AARD Aardvark Therapeutics, Inc. NASDAQ ยท United States Open the starter desk ## More in Financings Financings ### [INmune Bio raises $4.50 million in registered direct offering with warrants](https://aibio.space/news/inmune-bio-raises-4-50-million-registered-direct-offering-warrants/) Oct 29, 2026 Financings ### [Lexeo Therapeutics files $300 million shelf registration](https://aibio.space/news/lexeo-therapeutics-files-300-million-shelf-registration/) Oct 29, 2026 Financings ### [ProKidney files $650 million shelf with $200 million Jefferies sales program](https://aibio.space/news/prokidney-files-650-million-shelf-200-million-jefferies-sales-program/) Oct 29, 2026 --- Source page: https://aibio.space/news/aardvark-therapeutics-files-ipo-common-stock-seeks-nasdaq-listing-aard/. Facts in aibio.space stories are checked against company filings and releases; opinion is labelled. Cite as: aibio.space, "Aardvark Therapeutics files for IPO of common stock", 2025-01-23, https://aibio.space/news/aardvark-therapeutics-files-ipo-common-stock-seeks-nasdaq-listing-aard/