Anthera Raising $25M Through Public Offering
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
Hayward, California-based biotech Anthera Pharmaceuticals announced on 18 March that it priced 5.6m shares at $4.50 per share in a public offering underwritten by Piper Jaffray & Co. Anthera expects to bring in $25m from the offering, before expenses, and anticipates a closing data of 23 March. Piper Jaffray has the option of purchasing another 833,333 shares. The money will be used for development and general expenses. The company is conducting a Phase III study of blisibimod, a selective inhibitor of B-cell activating factor (BAFF) for the treatment of lupus, despite underwhelming results in a Phase IIb study (scripintelligence.com, 11 February 2015). The company also has a non-porcine pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) that it acquired from Eli Lilly in development (scripintelligence.com, 15 July 2014).
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