Esperion raises $151.9M for CVOT

Esperion Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) raised $151.9 million late Wednesday through the sale of 3.1 million shares at $49 in a follow-on underwritten by Jefferies, Cowen, UBS, JMP, Stifel and Needham. The price is a 6% discount to Esperion's Tuesday close of $52.13, when it proposed the offer after market hours. The stock sank $2.40 to $48.14 on Thursday.

Esperion said the funds will be used to support the ongoing CLEAR CVOT of its bempedoic acid. On Tuesday, the company gained 15% to $52.13 after announcing that bempedoic acid in combination with Zetia ezetimibe plus Lipitor atorvastatin met the primary endpoint of reducing LDL-C compared to placebo in a Phase II trial to treat hypercholesterolemia (see BioCentury, Aug. 8)...