Arix Bioscience (LON:ARIX) rose to a modest premium in the first hour of trading in London.
The shares, listed at 207p, advanced 3p on thin volumes.
Arix raised £100mln as part of the float – money that will be ploughed into early-stage drug developers and university partnerships.
The firm, which raised £50mln last year from private, already has stakes in five biotech groups directly and 17 through investments in other funds.
Its deputy chairman is Sir Christopher Evans the biotech entrepreneur behind a number of start-ups in the sector, while the company also works with UCB.
The Belgium pharma group was also an investor in the float along with Woodford Investment Management and Japanese giant Takeda. The share issue was over-subscribed.
"We are really pleased to see such strong demand for our IPO from a broad range of investors in this oversubscribed offering,” said Arix chief executive, Dr Joe Anderson.
“This is a vote of confidence for the life-science sector. We have a highly experienced international team and this new capital enables us to continue our commitment to supporting businesses in the vanguard of medical innovation, with the ultimate goal of improving outcomes for patients and unlocking value for investors.”