Funding roundup: Alder, Avalanche, OvaScience, Stemline
Four biotechs -- Alder Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ALDR), Avalanche Biotechnologies Inc. (NASDAQ:AAVL), OvaScience Inc. (NASDAQ:OVAS) and Stemline Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:STML) -- raised a total of $470.5 million in follow-on offerings on Thursday.
Migraine and autoimmune therapy developer Alder raised $177 million through the sale of 6 million shares at $29.50. Credit Suisse; Leerink; Wells Fargo; and Sanford C. Bernstein are underwriters. Alder has two mAbs in Phase II testing: ALD403, which targets calcitonin gene-related peptide ( CGRP); and clazakizumab against IL-6. An IV formulation of ALD403 is in a Phase IIb trial for chronic migraine, with subcutaneous ALD403 slated to begin a Phase IIb trial this half for high frequency migraine. Clazakizumab is in a Phase IIb study in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that is expected to complete this half. Alder slipped $1.09 to $29.39 on Thursday. The company proposed to raise $115 million after market on Dec. 22, when its share price was $28.33. On Monday, the company proposed to sell 4 million shares (see BioCentury Extra, Dec. 23, 2014). ...