Argos Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ARGS) became the latest Triangle company to go public Friday when its shares debuted on the Nasdaq exchange.

The Durham company, which plans to use IPO proceeds to finance late-stage clinical trials for its experimental cancer immunotherapy, joins a growing list of Triangle companies that have taken advantage of a improved market conditions to offer shares to the public.

Many of these companies took advantage of provisions included in the “Jumpstart Our Business Startups” or JOBS Act of 2012. The federal law allows emerging growth companies – companies with $1 billion or less in revenue in the most recently completed fiscal year – to file their IPO plans privately with regulators for review before disclosing those plans publicly.

Two other local companies, Research Triangle Park-based NephroGenex and Durham venture bank Square I Financial, remain in the IPO pipeline.

On Friday, NephroGenex said its largest investor may purchase another 10 percent of its shares in the IPO.

While technology and e-commerce firms have dominated the IPO landscape nationally in the last year, life science companies represented the vast majority of Triangle IPOs.

Here’s how the prior year has shaped up for IPOs from companies that are either based in the Triangle or have major operations in the region.

  • LipoScience

(NASDAQ: LPDX) – The medical diagnostics company went public in January 2013. Since making its public debut at $9 per share raising $45 million, the Raleigh company is down more than 52 percent trading at $4.42 at Thursday’s close. LipoScience sells a diagnostic test for cardiovascular disease but sales have lagged due to problems getting insurance companies to reimburse for the test.

Friday’s close: $4.31, down 11 cents

52-week range: $3.50-$11.84

  • Chimerix

(NASDAQ: CMRX) – Since going public last April at $14 a share, Research Triangle Park-based Chimerix has traded as high as $17.98 per share. The company, whose lead drug is a compound to prevent infections that can occur in patients undergoing stem cell transplant surgeries, closed Thursday at $17.43 per share, up 24.5 percent from the IPO price.

Friday’s close: $17.79, up 36 cents

52-week range: $12.96-$27.00

  • ChannelAdvisor

(NYSE: ECOM) – E-commerce software company ChannelAdvisor  raised $80 million from its IPO last May at $14 per share. The company has invested heavily to grow the business, pouring money into sales and marketing in particular. The investments are already starting to show results. For the fourth quarter, the company reported a record $20.5 million in revenue. ChannelAdvisor closed Thursday at $40.07, up 186 percent from its IPO price.

Friday’s close: $41.52, up $1.45

52-week range: $14.25-$49.75

  • Quintiles

(NYSE: Q) – The Durham pharmaceutical services company’s $948 million IPO last May was the biggest ever for a Triangle company. Quintiles is the largest of the contract research organizations, companies that run clinical trials and provide other outsourced services to pharmaceutical companies. Quintiles’ IPO was the company’s second time going public. The company initially went public in 1994 before founder Dennis Gillings and a number of private equity firms took the company private in 2003. Quintiles stock closed at $49, up 22.5 percent from its $40 IPO price.

Friday’s close: $48.23, down 77 cents

52-week range: $40-10-$52.00

  • Heat Biologics

(NASDAQ: HTBX) – Another cancer immunotherapy company, Heat Bio debuted on the public markets in July, aiming to raise $25 million by offering stock at $10 per share. Shares in Chapel Hill-based Heat Bio have traded as high as $15.29 in the last year but have declined since that October peak. Heat Bio closed Thursday at $7.29, down 37 percent from its IPO price.

Friday’s close: $7.30, up 1 cent

52-week range: $6.62-$15.29

  • Intrexon

(NYSE: XON) – Maryland-based Intrexon, which has laboratories in North Carolina from its acquisition of Research Triangle Park-based Agarigen, went public last August at $16 per share raising $160 million. The synthetic biology company’s shares have reached as high as 38.50 per share. On Thursday, Intrexon shares closed at $30.09, up 88 percent over its IPO price.

Friday’s close: $30.16, up 7 cents

52-week range: $17.52-$38.50

  • Regado Biosciences

(NASDAQ: RGDO) – The New Jersey-based company, which operates labs in Research Triangle Park, went public last August at $4 per share. But like Argos, Regado had to slash its offering price in order to pull off its IPO. Regado had initially planned to offer stock in the range of $14 and $16 per share. Regado is in clinical trials for blood clotting for use in heart surgeries. The technology was originally developed at Duke University. Regado closed trading Thursday at $5.86, up 46.5 percent from its IPO price.

Friday’s close: $5.67, down 19 cents

52-week range: $4.27-$9.39

  • CommScope

(NASDAQ: COMM) – Hickory-based cable and communications technology company CommScope went public last October, raising $577 million by offering stock at $15 per share. It was the second time going public for the company, which had been acquired by private equity firm The Carlyle Group in 2010. CommScope shares have reached as high as $19.64 since its debut; the stock closed Thursday at $18.46, up 23 percent from its IPO price.

Friday’s close: $18.21, down 25 cents

52-week range: $14.77-$19.64

  • Aerie Pharmaceuticals

(NASDAQ: AERI) – Glaucoma drug developer Aerie Pharmaceuticals raised $68 million when it went public last October at $10 per share. Aerie also had to cut its stock price to go public; the company had initially planned to sell stock in the range of $12 to $14 per share. New Jersey-based Aerie, which is developing technology licensed from Duke University, closed Thursday at $17.97, up 79.7 percent from its IPO price.

Friday’s close: $18.96, up 99 cents

52-week range: $10.31-$21.99