Amid Government Shutdown, Companies Try New Approaches to IPOs

Last year was a record year for biotech initial public offerings (IPOs), but 2019 is off to a slow and rocky start because of the government shutdown, which today is in its 31st day.

As a result of the shutdown, some companies with plans to go public are considering a legal loophole to move forward. In the first quarter of 2018, there were 47 IPOs. So far this month, not much is going on because the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is largely shut down along with the rest of the federal government.