Esperion raises US$75m overnight
Esperion Therapeutics raised US$75m late on Tuesday from an overnight stock sale to help smooth the newly commercial-stage drug maker’s path to profitability next year.
After an earlier wall-cross, Piper Sandler and Cantor priced 30m shares at a US$2.50 fixed price, a stiff 19% discount from the previous closing price of US$3.09.
The banks did not have far to look for support, since Cantor hosted a “non-deal roadshow” event for the issuer earlier in the day.
The biotech's shares closed on Wednesday at US$2.57, just above issue.
At the Cantor event, Esperion gave investors a look at the commercial launch for a new cholesterol-lowering drug for the 30% of patients who are allergic or do not respond to statin therapies like Lipitor.
In Q2, Esperion generated US$82.4m of total revenue including US$40.3m of US drug sales and US$42.1m of collaboration revenue.
The drug was recently approved in Japan, triggering a US$120m milestone payment from Otsuka Pharmaceutical and tiered royalties of 15%–30% on future drug sales.
Statin intolerance is high in Japan, providing a US$200m market opportunity for Esperion and Otsuka, according to Cantor research analysts.
Esperion will have close to US$300m of cash following this stock sale, including the Otsuka milestone payment and US$86.1m of existing cash.
Based on current projections, that should be enough to keep the commercial launch until the biotech turns profitable sometime in Q1 next year.