Vir’s aftermarket weakness adds to skittishness for IPO queue

The tepid performances of two high-profile IPOs late in the week added to a widening body of evidence that investors’ demand for new biotech listings has begun to weaken, despite a long queue of companies hoping to get out this year.

Although Vir Biotechnology Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) priced its IPO within its proposed range late Thursday, the company quickly lost 30% of its value in the aftermarket, slipping $5.98 to $14.02 on Friday and slicing over $650 million from the $2.2 billion valuation its offering price implied. The losses came on a day when biotech indexes and the broader markets were trending upward...