August 12, 2026

Is Leerink Now Better Than J.P. Morgan? (A Quick Look at 2026 IPOs and Follow-ons to Date)

On Monday, Replimune announced its second surprise in almost as many days. Its first feat was getting accelerated FDA approval for TUDRIQEV the previous week, following two prior CRLs and a controversial ADCOM. The second surprise was subsequently announcing Leerink as “Top Left” for its $150M follow-on, with J.P. Morgan sitting “Top Right.”

This should raise eyebrows throughout the biotech world.  

Why? Well, because J.P. Morgan – with a market cap of c. $950bn – typically sits “Top Left” for the biotech deals it’s involved in, while Leerink – which was bought by SVB for $280M in cash in 2019 before gaining its independence again in 2023 – typically sits to the right of J.P. Morgan.

Yet Replimune’s deal marked the third such occurrence of a Leerink / J.P. Morgan one-two follow-on this year.

To illustrate my point, below is a table showing biotech/pharma follow-ons (>$50M) in 2026 where Leerink and J.P. Morgan were both included in the syndicate. To date, there have been six, and in three of those instances Leerink and J.P. Morgan walked away with equal economics.

2026 Follow-ons syndicate economics for J.P. Morgan and Leerink
Biotech	J.P. Morgan %	Leerink %
Crinetics Pharmaceuticals	29.00	29.00
Tango Therapeutics	35.00	30.00
Shattuck Labs	33.00	33.00
Definium Therapeutics	23.00	16.00
REGENXBIO	32.00	27.00
Replimune Group	40.00	40.00

Source: FactSet

In half of those instances (3/6), Leerink sat in the “Top Left” position, while J.P. Morgan sat “Top Right,” and as anyone in biotech will tell you, this is positively seismic in its implication, because the order in which banks appear on the cover of a prospectus (and in any accompanying press releases) is supremely important and thus heavily negotiated.

Syndicate descriptions for “equal economics” transactions
Biotech	Pricing Date	Amount	Syndicate Description
Crinetics	Jan 6, 2026	$350M	“Leerink Partners, J.P. Morgan, Evercore ISI, Piper Sandler and Cantor are acting as joint bookrunning managers for the offering. Baird is acting as lead manager for the offering.”
Shattuck Labs	June 10, 2026	$75M	“Leerink Partners, J.P. Morgan, Piper Sandler and Cantor are acting as joint bookrunning managers for the proposed offering.”
Replimune	Aug 10, 2026	$150M	“Leerink Partners, J.P. Morgan, and Cantor are acting as the bookrunning managers for the offering.”

Source: Company press releases

Why? Well, banks have “reputation committees” that are built to maximize franchise revenue over the long run, and this typically means turning away deals that would create a new precedent for how banks are remunerated relative to their peers. For example, the biotech community has come to expect that Leerink and Cowen have to always be remunerated equally in a deal in which they both participate, or Bank X has to receive at least 750 basis points more than Bank Y, etc.

These recent deals appear to indicate a step up in Leerink’s standing vis-a-vis its fellow banks, and a step down for J.P. Morgan.

So, does that mean that Leerink is now better than J.P. Morgan when it comes to biotech?

Well, not quite yet. Despite the economics Leerink has managed to secure in follow-on offerings, the Boston-based bank has yet to achieve similar economics when it comes to IPOs. The table below of 2026 biotech/pharma IPOs tells the more traditional story of J.P. Morgan “superiority”. In the seven relevant 2026 public offerings in which both banks were included in an IPO syndicate, J.P. Morgan has always sat to the left of Leerink, achieving on average a 13.9% better payday (range 9.5%-21%, or 950-2,100bps).

2026 IPO syndicate economics for J.P. Morgan and Leerink
Biotech	J.P. Morgan %	Leerink %
Aktis Oncology	35.00	20.00
AgomAb Therapeutics	37.00	22.25
Alamar Biosciences	32.00	11.00
Kailera Therapeutics	28.00	16.00
Seaport Therapeutics	27.50	18.00
Kardigan	35.75	20.75
Blossomhill Therapeutics	38.00	28.00
Average	33.32	19.43

Source: FactSet

Moreover, of the 21 IPOs so far transacted through August 6, 2026, J.P. Morgan has sat in the “Top Left” position eight times compared to Leerink’s three.

So, don’t go canceling your meeting room for the J.P. Morgan Annual Healthcare Conference just yet. There’s no sign that J.P. Morgan’s preeminence in biotechnology is ending any time soon.