Oct 26 (Reuters) -

Drug developer MapLight Therapeutics, backed by controlling

shareholder Novo Holdings, is valued at $704.3 million after its

Nasdaq debut on Sunday, as biotech IPOs show signs of revival

following a months-long freeze.

The Redwood City, California-based company sold 14.75

million shares in the initial public offering to raise $250.8

million. The company priced the offering at $17 per share.

October has been relatively quiet in the IPO market,

with much of the activity coming from deals that were reviewed

by the SEC before the government shutdown.

MapLight's lead experimental drug candidate, ML-007C-MA,

is currently being developed to treat schizophrenia and

hallucinations and delusions caused by Alzheimer's disease.

The company was the first to tap the rarely used 20-day

IPO rule after the U.S. government shutdown began earlier in

October, as it sought to navigate the SEC closure to go public.

Besides Novo Holdings, MapLight is backed by nonprofit

Catalyst4, which was founded by Google co-founder Sergey Brin.