April 17 (Reuters) - Weight-loss drug developer Kailera

Therapeutics' shares surged 62.5% in their Nasdaq debut

on Friday after closing a $625 million U.S. initial public

offering, as Wall Street's appetite for the fast-growing market

remains unsated.

Success of newer weight-loss therapies have spurred a rush

of investment as drugmakers target what is expected to become a

$150-billion annual market by the end of the decade.

Several drugmakers are racing to develop competing therapies

in a market dominated by pharma giants Eli Lilly ( LLY ) and

Novo Nordisk.

Waltham, Massachusetts-based Kailera sold roughly 39 million

shares in an upsized offering priced at $16 apiece, the top end

of its marketed range. The stock opened for trading at $26 each.

The spring IPO market is chugging along, with several

sizable deals closing after a brief March lull as volatility

linked to the Middle East conflict and a tech selloff on fears

of disruption by artificial intelligence weighed on sentiment.

The listing also signals a potential turnaround for the

biotechnology IPO market, which has been muted in recent years

as high cash burn and weak post-debut performance of 2020-2021

listings kept investors on the sidelines.