Methodology / source ledger version 1.1.0
The archive is rebuilt from public SEC EDGAR records using a fixed screen and a fixed phrase dictionary. This page sets out the rules, the counts at each step, what the signals can and cannot show, and the gaps that remain open
Read the inclusion rules ↘01 / inclusion rules
The screen starts with every final prospectus filed on Form 424B4 in the EDGAR quarterly form indexes from July 2025 to the collection date
The issuer filed a Form 424B4 between 1 July 2025 and 1 October 2026, the last day covered by the EDGAR index when this version was built. The first 424B4 date is the pricing event and sets the quarter
739 filings from 632 issuersThe SEC-assigned SIC code on the issuer's EDGAR record falls in the list below. 523 issuers were outside it
109 issuers passedNo 10-K, 10-Q, 20-F, 40-F or Regulation A annual report before pricing, and an S-1 on file. This removes follow-ons and uplistings (60), issuers with no S-1 in the record (3) and foreign issuers on Form F-1 (4)
42 issuers passedEach prospectus overview was read. Functional Brands Inc.: dietary supplement manufacturer and distributor, not a drug, device or care-delivery business. Westin Acquisition Corp: blank check company (SPAC) whose SIC code was changed to healthcare services after it announced a business combination. Research Alliance Corp III: blank check company (SPAC) despite a pharmaceutical SIC code. Direct listings registered on Form S-1 stay in and are labelled
39 issuers included02 / sector classification
The default sector comes from the SIC code SEC assigns. Where the prospectus describes a different business, the issuer is reassigned and the reason is recorded on its archive entry. Two issuers were reassigned: a molecular diagnostics laboratory coded as medical laboratory services, and an ophthalmic drug-delivery developer coded as a surgical instrument maker
| SEC SIC code | Default sector | Issuers in archive |
|---|---|---|
| 2833 | Biotech and pharma | 0 |
| 2834 | Biotech and pharma | 19 |
| 2835 | Medical device and diagnostics | 0 |
| 2836 | Biotech and pharma | 6 |
| 3826 | Medical device and diagnostics | 1 |
| 3841 | Medical device and diagnostics | 8 |
| 3842 | Medical device and diagnostics | 1 |
| 3843 | Medical device and diagnostics | 0 |
| 3844 | Medical device and diagnostics | 0 |
| 3845 | Medical device and diagnostics | 1 |
| 3851 | Medical device and diagnostics | 0 |
| 8000 | Healthcare services | 0 |
| 8011 | Healthcare services | 0 |
| 8050 | Healthcare services | 0 |
| 8051 | Healthcare services | 0 |
| 8060 | Healthcare services | 0 |
| 8062 | Healthcare services | 0 |
| 8071 | Healthcare services | 2 |
| 8082 | Healthcare services | 0 |
| 8090 | Healthcare services | 1 |
| 8093 | Healthcare services | 0 |
| 8731 | Biotech and pharma | 0 |
03 / evidence signals
Each signal is a literal phrase or abbreviation searched in the final prospectus after HTML is removed. Two financial signals use stricter wording: the auditor going-concern signal requires an explanatory paragraph, and the material-weakness signal requires the issuer to say it identified one
Phase 1 · Phase 2 · Phase 3 · Pivotal study · Topline data · Clinical hold · Clinical validation
IND · NDA or BLA · Expedited designation · 510(k) · PMA or De Novo · Breakthrough Device · CLIA or LDT · CE mark or EU MDR/IVDR
cGMP · Contract manufacturer · QSR, QMSR or ISO 13485 · Form 483 or warning letter · Recall
Reimbursement · CPT or HCPCS coding · Medicare or Medicaid · Payer contracts · Value-based care · Sales force
HIPAA · Anti-Kickback Statute · Stark Law · Corporate practice of medicine · Certificate of need
Auditor going-concern paragraph · Material weakness identified · Emerging growth company · Cash runway statement · Dual-class or controlled company
A hit means the topic is disclosed. Risk factors routinely describe events that have not happened, such as a clinical hold or a recall, so counts are not evidence of those events. Occurrence counts reflect prospectus length as much as emphasis and are not a score
Signals were checked by reading the matching passages for a sample of issuers. That check changed one pattern before release: services prospectuses use "de novo" for newly opened clinics and imaging centers, so the PMA or De Novo signal now requires "de novo" to be followed by a regulatory term such as classification or request. The dictionary will change over time. Any change is recorded in the changelog below with a new ledger version, and earlier versions of the ledger are kept
04 / three kinds of date
The EDGAR filing date of each S-1, S-1/A, 424B4, draft submission or staff letter. For draft registration statements this is the original confidential submission date shown once the draft became public
When this site last read the EDGAR indexes, submissions records and prospectus text, with filings through 1 October 2026. The first collection was in September 2026. The ledger stores the month
When the archive went live on this site. No page carries an earlier publication date, and older quarters were not written at the time they happened. Later updates change the modified date, not the published date
Between 5 and 11 life-sciences IPOs priced in each complete quarter of this window. Monthly pages would often cover one or two companies, so quarters give each archive page enough filings to describe without overstating a trend
05 / open data gaps
SEC publishes comment letters and responses after a review is complete, and the lag varies. 24 of the 27 issuers priced from Q1 2026 onward have none on EDGAR yet. The record does not say whether that is timing or a review without comments, so these fields stay blank until letters appear
Only the final 424B4 is parsed. What changed between the first public S-1 and pricing is linked but not measured
Cover-page terms vary in layout and could not be parsed reliably, so no price or proceeds figure is published. Read them from the linked 424B4
Companies that listed through Form F-1 or a blank-check merger are excluded, so life-sciences listings by those routes are not represented
06 / versions and downloads
Each ledger row holds the issuer, CIK, form type, event date, accession number, SEC links, what was extracted and the verification month and status
1.1.0 · October 2026. Update with filings through 1 October 2026. 39 issuers and 410 filing records, Q3 2025 to Q3 2026 all complete. Adds ADARx Pharmaceuticals (priced 28 Sep 2026), re-reads every issuer's EDGAR record for new filings, and records one further exclusion after reading, Westin Acquisition Corp, a blank-check company whose SIC code was changed to healthcare services after it announced a deal. The SIC code is read at collection time, so a code changed after pricing is caught by reading the prospectus. Q4 2026 had no qualifying issuer through 1 October 2026, so it has no page yet
1.0.0 · September 2026. First release. 38 issuers and 403 filing records covering Q3 2025 to Q2 2026 in full and Q3 2026 in part. Kept for reference: CSV · JSON
Earlier versions stay public: see every version, what changed and the cohort as first published
Download the current version: ipo-evidence-ledger.csv · ipo-evidence-ledger.json. Corrections should cite the EDGAR filing that shows the right value; accepted corrections get a new version and an entry here