Investors breathed a little life into the moribund market for new stocks on Wednesday, sending shares of two biotech companies sharply higher on their first day of trading.
Editas Medicine Inc., a Cambridge startup, rose 12.5 percent to $18. China’s BeiGene Ltd. climbed more than 18 percent to $28.33.
The gains came after Editas raised $94.4 million and BeiGene, which has its US headquarters in Waltham, raised $158.4 million in the first two initial public offerings of 2016 in the United States. At least one other biotech, PLx Pharma Inc. of Houston, was scheduled to price its shares Wednesday night, potentially extending the run of IPOs after a drought in January.
“You need a few to start to go public and get the market moving,’’ said Bob McGooey, senior vice president at Nasdaq. “And I think the strong performance of BeiGene and Editas today will give other companies a lot more confidence in a market that continues to be a little choppy.’’
The market for IPOs began slowing in the second half of last year, and there have been none since December. The last biotech IPO took place Nov. 19 when Asome Therapeutics Inc. of New York raised $51 million.
Nasdaq, where many smaller companies initially list their shares, piled up a backlog of 39 new IPO applications last month, more than double the 14 filed in the first month of last year. Those include companies that have registered publicly with the Securities and Exchange Commission and those that have filed under the JOBS Act, a 2012 law permitting applications to remain confidential in their early stages.
McGooey said Nasdaq officials expect another strong year for IPOs, fueled by health care and technology companies seeking to go public. The exchange had a total of 68 public applications on file on Feb. 1, including 34 health care companies. Of those, 16 were biotechnology firms, which powered the IPO boom of the past three years.
Despite the continued interest in raising money through public offerings, many market watchers remain skeptical that IPOs will rebound strongly this year after grinding to a halt in the second half of 2015. Investors may buy into selective biotech offerings because of their breakthrough science, they suggest, but such interest may not extend beyond specific companies.
Editas, for example, is seen having the potential to transform drug discovery by modifying disease-causing genes. BeiGene, the first Chinese company focused solely on biotechnology to go public in the United States, is developing drugs that harness the immune system to fight cancer.
But looking at demand for IPOs as a whole, “the window may be basically shut until the markets stabilize,’’ said Kathleen Smith, principal at Renaissance Capital, a Greenwich, Conn., research and investment firm that manages IPO-focused exchange traded funds.
Financial markets have retreated since the start of the year, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing 7.3 percent and the Nasdaq giving up 9.8 percent.
Editas sold 5.9 million shares at $16 apiece. That was the lower end of its anticipated range of $16 to $18 a share. In a statement, the Cambridge company said it had granted the IPO underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to 885,000 more shares at the public offering price, minus discounts and commissions, to cover possible over-allotments.
BeiGene, based in Beijing, priced 6.6 million American depository shares at $24 apiece, selling at the top end of its anticipated range.
Robert Weisman can be reached at robert.weisman@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeRobW.
