bluebird proposes follow-on, Ultragenyx sets follow-on shares

Gene therapy play bluebird bio Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) proposed a follow-on and rare disease company Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:RARE) set a number of shares for its proposed follow-on after market close on Monday. bluebird plans to raise $100 million in an offering underwritten by BofA Merrill Lynch; Cowen; Citigroup; Wedbush PacGrow; and SunTrust. Bluebird jumped $8.37 (32%) to $34.46 on June 16 after reporting that two beta thalassemia major patients who received the company's LentiGlobin BB305 achieved blood transfusion independence within two weeks, which suggested bluebird could have one of the first disease-modifying treatments for beta thalassemia. LentiGlobin BB305 comprises autologous CD34+ stem cells transduced ex vivo with a lentiviral vector encoding the human beta globin gene (see BioCentury, June 23).

Ultragenyx said it plans to sell 1.3 million shares and would raise $61.4 million if the shares are sold at the company's close of $46.86 on Monday, before the company set the share number. Ultragenyx proposed to raise $65 million in the offering late last month. JPMorgan; Morgan Stanley; Cowen; and Baird are underwriters. Ultragenyx shareholders plan to sell 706,072 shares in a concurrent secondary offering. The company's pipeline includes five products in development for six rare disease indications, including UX001, an extended-release formulation of sialic acid in Phase II testing for hereditary inclusion body myopathy (hIBM). ...