MapLight’s Historic IPO Amid a Government Shutdown

The challenge

MapLight Therapeutics exists to open possibilities, unlocking new treatments for patients long underserved by existing options for central nervous system disorders. But just as the biopharmaceutical company prepared to open a new chapter through its initial public offering (IPO), a government shutdown threatened to close the door on its momentum.

The 2025 US federal government shutdown has frozen key regulatory functions, delaying IPO timelines and impacting companies’ ability to access the public markets. With the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shut down, the complexity of MapLight’s IPO increased – introducing uncertainty at a critical inflection point for the company’s growth and mission to reach patients in need.

When most firms would hit pause, Cooley hit accelerate.

The approach

Strategic creativity

With the market frozen by regulatory gridlock, we recognized the importance of moving forward. In close collaboration with MapLight and other members of the deal team, we executed an unconventional regulatory strategy and restructured offering mechanics, without the usual playbook. We worked with precision and speed to get our client to market with an automatically effective registration statement.

In that registration statement, MapLight included the proposed public offering price and the number of shares offered using specific language, allowing the registration statement to become automatically effective under Section 8(a) of the Securities Act on October 25, 2025. This helped pave the way for MapLight to price the IPO on October 26, 2025.

Rooted in the relationship

Over the past seven years, we’ve supported MapLight through critical patent, trademark and licensing deals, as well as three financings. That long-standing partnership established a deep understanding of the company’s science, strategy and goals. When it came time to act, we knew that moving decisively was exactly what the moment demanded. This IPO is a powerful example of how client insight, whether built over time or developed rapidly, enables us to deliver what matters most.

At the forefront of innovation

MapLight’s novel approach to targeted treatment is reshaping the future of neuroscience – a potential paradigm shift in how conditions are understood and treated. The company’s unique discovery platform is driving the development of multiple potential best-in-class, targeted therapies for conditions such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease psychosis and autism spectrum disorder. Cooley’s role was to match that spirit of innovation with strategic, adaptive legal strategy, helping ensure that a company built to transform patient care could move forward, even in the face of regulatory disruption.

The impact

MapLight priced its IPO at $17 per share, raising $296.3 million in an IPO and concurrent private placement – including the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares – and debuted on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol MPLT. 

This IPO marks a historic moment in capital markets:

• Believed to be the first offering by a life sciences company to price following a registration statement that became automatically effective under Section 8(a) of the Securities Act, which spotlights the SEC’s shutdown-era guidance and reinforces the importance of registration-timing strategy.
• Reflects the growing investor appetite for central nervous system therapeutics, building on MapLight’s momentum from its Cooley-advised, oversubscribed $372.5 million Series D financing earlier in 2025.

The takeaway

MapLight’s IPO was a triumph of strategy over circumstance, of creativity over convention. In a year defined by hesitation, its debut was one of only three sizeable life sciences IPOs in 2025. Our team was honored to support two of those three offerings – continuing a pattern of helping companies navigate uncertainty and providing solutions to novel situations. In the first month of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cooley advised all three life sciences IPOs that launched nationwide.

Moments like these underscore how thoughtful strategy, deep collaboration and a shared commitment to innovation can move bold ideas forward, even in the most challenging environments.