Since January 2021, 28 health care companies — led by the biotech sector but including health tech and services players — have filed to go public but have yet to IPO, data provided by Renaissance Capital shows, Sarah writes.

Why it matters: Besides speaking to today's chilly public market landscape, we could see this cohort of companies pivot to alternative strategic actions or exit opportunities.

• More IPOs off the table very well may translate to more private funding rounds or private equity investment, while some assets might emerge as outright takeout candidates. (See Apax's market check for medical and aesthetics tech company Candela Medical.)

By the numbers: The median time from an initial IPO filing to pricing is about three and a half weeks — but that will likely increase in 2022 due to difficult conditions, Renaissance Capital tells Sarah.

State of play: Most of the "lingering" IPO filings fall into biotech, which is not all that surprising given many early-stage assets in the sector seek public debuts to access a bigger chunk of capital. But there are some exceptions...

• Rotech, a medical equipment company, which filed for a $300 million IPO in July 2021.
• Jin Medical International, a Chinese wheelchair manufacturer that filed in September 2021.
• BrightSpring Health, a KKR-backed home health services provider, which filed in October 2021.
• Samsara Vision, which makes implantable ophthalmic devices and technologies, filed in November 2021.
• OptMed, a clinical-stage medical device company focused on surgical adhesives, which filed in June.

Separately, health care map-maker Komodo Health hired banks early this year for what was arguably the most anticipated health tech IPO of 2022, sources told Axios in March.

• At the time, sources said the hyper-growth startup was expected to file confidentially over the next couple of months and aimed to go public in the summer time frame.
• Other expected health tech IPOs this year that have yet to play out are Included Health and Tempus Labs.

Yes, and: We've already seen 25 such companies scrap IPO plans since January 2021, with Everside's withdrawal on Monday emerging as the latest example.

• Other notable cancellations include revenue cycle management Ensemble Health Partners and Leonard Green & Partners' clinical trials solutions company WCG Clinical.
• For Ensemble, its change of plans turned out favorably. The company garnered an investment from Berkshire Partners and Warburg Pincus in a deal that valued the RCM player north of $5 billion, sources told Sarah in March.
• Additionally, in June, Bausch Health halted a planned IPO for its Solta Medical aesthetics division — which has us wondering if, like Candela, Solta could soon end up on the block.

The bottom line: Public market uncertainty notwithstanding, VC and PE funds sitting on huge piles of cash may increasingly fill today's IPO gap.