Axovant Sciences' IPO Sparks Comment On 'Biotech Bubble' - Axon Enterprise (NASDAQ:AXON), GSK (NYSE:GSK)

Axovant Sciences LtdAXON

nearly doubled during its first few hours of trading Thursday, stirring comments about a biotech bubble.

The company acquired its single product, a prospective treatment for Alzheimer's disease, for $5 million from GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) GSK in December, and priced its initial public offering at $15 a share on Wednesday.

Axovant traded recently at $29.07.

Industry Buzz

"The fact that someone can make something of this size out of virtually nothing should be of concern to everyone in the industry," John Carroll, editor of the industry news site

FierceBiotech

wrote. "Magical thinking will take you just so far."

"There is no doubt that biotech is the one area of the IPO market where there are signs it looks like the dotcom bubble," Renaissance Capital's Kathleen Smith told the Financial Times.

A Quick Look At Axovant

Axovant is headed by 29-year-old

Vivek Ramaswamy

, who has a biology degree from Harvard College and graduated from Yale Law School.

Until May of last year, Ramaswamy, whose mother and brother work for Axovant, was a member of the investment team at hedge fund sponsor QVT Financial LP, with a $1.8 billion portfolio.

Axovant: Looking Ahead

Axovant hopes to launch a

Phase III study

of its prospective Alzheimer's treatment in the fourth quarter.

"In the long-term, we intend to develop a pipeline of product candidates to comprehensively address the components of dementia," Axovant said in its prospectus.

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