Adds valuation of the company in paragraph 3; background in paragraph 12

Jan 30 (Reuters) - Maze Therapeutics said on Thursday that it raised $140 million in an initial public offering, setting the stage for a debut that will make the kidney disease drug developer the first U.S. biotech listing this year.

Maze priced the offering at $16 per share, within its indicated range of $15 to $17.

The IPO valued the California-based company at approximately $685 million, ahead of its market debut, which comes after lackluster first-day performances from other high-profile firms such as Venture Global VG.N and Smithfield Foods SFD.O in recent days.

Investors in Maze include healthcare venture firms ARCH Venture and Third Rock Ventures, along with Alphabet's GOOGL.O venture capital arm GV.

Last month, the drug developer raised a series-D financing round of $115 million.

Maze is working on developing treatments for renal, cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases. Its pipeline features two leading experimental candidates for chronic kidney disease: MZE829, currently in a mid-stage study, and MZE782, in an early-stage study with initial data anticipated in the second half of 2025.

Early-stage biotech firms typically require huge capital to finance their research and drug development, and are viewed as long-term plays for investors.

Earlier this month, Maze reported a $9.03 million profit for the nine-month period ended Sept. 30, versus a loss of $73.84 million in the year-ago period.

The debut also comes at a time of market uncertainty, with a global tech selloff triggered by the Chinese AI platform DeepSeek testing investor risk appetite.

Additionally, investors are weighing the inflationary effects of tariffs and mass deportations under U.S. President Donald Trump. In its IPO prospectus, Maze has highlighted tariffs as a potential risk, noting that such policies could affect the cost of manufacturing its therapeutic candidates.

Maze's shares are scheduled to start trading in New York on Friday under the ticker symbol "MAZE".

Separately, weight-loss drug developer Metsera, also making its debut on Friday, raised $275 million after pricing its U.S. IPO at $18 per share, above its targeted range.

(Reporting by Ateev Bhandari and Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Mrinmay Dey; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

((rishabh.jaiswal@thomsonreuters.com;))