Candice D. Johnson, Author at Biotech Briefings

Candice D. Johnson

Associate Attorney, Denver

+1 303.298.5965

Candice D. Johnson is an associate in the Denver office of Gibson Dunn where she practices in the firm’s Capital Markets practice group, focusing on representing leading life sciences companies and investors. Candice advises clients on a wide range of financing transactions and compliance matters, including initial public offerings, follow-on and secondary equity offerings, at-the-market offerings, and private placements, as well as reverse merger transactions, corporate law matters, Securities and Exchange Commission reporting requirements and ownership filings, and corporate governance matters.

Welcome to Part 2 of our 2026 Life Sciences Industry Outlook series. Today, we are focusing on life sciences capital markets activity in 2025 and expectations for 2026.

The life sciences equity capital markets in 2025 were defined by a stark “tale of two halves,” beginning with intense volatility that effectively shuttered deal activity. The first half of the year was marred by significant market uncertainty, particularly following the “Liberation Day” tariff announcements. This event, combined with regulatory upheaval caused major indices like the XBI and Nasdaq to slide. During this period, the capital markets lay dormant—April saw zero priced biotech IPOs and only four priced follow-on deals, three of which were registered directs.