BioCentury
ARTICLE | Top Story

Public biotechs raise close to $1B

January 18, 2013 1:17 AM UTC

Aveo Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AVEO) and Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:PCRX) raised a total of $160 million on Thursday, bringing the total raised by public biotechs this week to at least $942.5 million. Aveo raised $50 million through the sale of 6.7 million shares at $7.50 in a follow-on underwritten by JPMorgan; RBC Capital; and Canaccord. Aveo's Tivopath tivozanib is under FDA review to treat renal cell carcinoma (RCC), with a July 28 PDUFA date. The inhibitor of VEGF receptors 1, 2 and 3 is partnered with Astellas Pharma Inc. (Tokyo:4503), which has co-development and commercialization rights outside of Asia. Aveo has exclusive ex-Asian rights to tivozanib from Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co. Ltd. (Tokyo:4151) (see BioCentury Extra, Jan. 16).

Pacira raised $110 million through the sale of 3.25% senior convertible notes due 2019 to institutional investors in a bumped-up offering. The notes initially convert at $24.82, which is a 31% premium to Pacira's close of $18.95 on Tuesday, before the company proposed to raise $100 million in the note deal. Pacira plans to use a portion of the proceeds to support U.S. commercialization of Exparel to manage postoperative pain. The company launched the bupivacaine liposome extended-release injectable suspension last April. The product uses Pacira's DepoFoam drug delivery technology. ...