Sept. 23 Quick Takes: Zai raises $776M, Silverback $85M; plus Novartis, PureTech, UCB and more

Zai prices Hong Kong offering, becomes dual-listed
Cross-border in-licensing company Zai Lab Ltd. (NASDAQ:ZLAB; HKEX:9688) raised HK$5.9 billion ($776.1 million) via an offering that will land it on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The deal’s combined local and international components priced 10.6 million shares at HK$562, about 13% below the proposed maximum of HK$648. Trading is to begin Sept. 28. The price corresponds to a price per NASDAQ ADS of $72.52; Zai gained $0.59 to $76.62 on NASDAQ on Wednesday (see “First Pure Biotech to List on HK Main Board”).

EcoR1 leads Silverback’s $85M round
Innate immune and cancer company Silverback Therapeutics Inc. raised an $85 million series C round led by EcoR1 Capital, with participation by new investors Boxer Capital of Tavistock Group, Fidelity, Nantahala Capital Management and RA Capital, as well as existing investors. The company’s lead candidate SBT6050, a conjugate comprising a HER2-targeting mAb linked to a TLR8 agonist, is in a Phase I study. Silverback also added the title of president to CSO Valerie Odegard, and promoted SVP of Clinical R&D Naomi Hunder to CMO (see “Silverback Raises $78.5M Series B”)...