Inventiva infuses MASH programme with US$150m
Inventiva secured an upsized US$150m on Wednesday from an overnight stock sale that fully funds an ongoing Phase III trial of its promising MASH drug.
Leerink Partners and Piper Sandler priced 38.9m Nasdaq-listed ADSs at US$3.85, a 4.9% discount to the previous closing price of US$4.05.
The ADS closed Thursday below issue at US$3.27.
The banks were covered at launch from an earlier wall-cross for a US$125m raise at a fixed price, allowing them to increase the size of the offering by 20%.
Despite some clinical setbacks, the French biotech is now getting close to the finish line with its MASH drug.
An acronym for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, MASH is a serious liver disease with only one FDA approved treatment.
Madrigal Pharmaceutical was first to market with its drug Rezdiffra, its shares have nearly doubled to US$524.88 since winning approval in March 2024.
MASH’s growing prevalence among obese adults creates a massive market opportunity that will require many approved treatments.
Developing new MASH drugs that are both safe and effective is tricky because patients are often at high-risk for co-morbidities like high cholesterol and other cardiovascular problems.
Inventiva has taken a cautious approach, opting to voluntarily pause development on multiple occasions to address potential safety issues.
Having enrolled patients for a Phase III trial in April, Inventiva expects to finish the study and report trial results before the end of next year.
The proceeds, when added to £97.6m (US$114m) of cash held at the end of September, are enough to finish the Phase III trial with money left over to see Inventiva through the FDA approval process and prefund the commercial launch.