Money on the Move: Mesoblast, Iantrek, Jenavalve and More
Mesoblast fell short of analyst forecasts this week, and money is pouring into glaucoma, medical devices for heart disease and chronic endocrine conditions. For that and more, continue reading.
Mesoblast Closes FY 2022 Falling Short of Expectations
In its financial results and operational highlights report published Tuesday, allogeneic cellular medicines developer Mesoblast posted total revenue of $10.2 million, up 37% from the $7.5 million earned the previous fiscal year.
This revenue jump of approximately $2.7 million works out to per-share earnings of $0.1, but according to financial analytics platform Investing.com, analysts expected an earnings-per-share value of $0.1025.
Royalties and a $1.2-million milestone from Japanese multinational Takeda drove much of Mesoblast’s revenue growth. At the same time, the company generated more savings this fiscal year, reporting a net cash usage of $65.8 million, down 35% from the preceding 12 months. As of June 30, Mesoblast had cash of $60.4 million.
In the near term, Mesoblast is looking to resubmit its biologics license application for remestemcel-L, its candidate for steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease in children. U.S. approval is expected early next year.
Iantrek Scores $23M in Series B
New York-based Iantrek, Inc. announced the closing of its Series B financing round, where it earned $23 million in funding. The financing was led by Visionary Ventures and Sectoral Asset Management, Inc.
Iantrek will use the capital for the clinical introduction and post-market analysis of its Micro-Interventional Glaucoma Surgical (MIGS) devices.
Alongside its Series B funding, the ophthalmic medical device company announced that Dr. Sean Ianchulev, its founder and chairman, will now serve as its chief executive. Iantrek is also appointing new leaders to its vice president of sales and marketing and head of clinical operations and regulatory positions. Industry and clinical experts are joining the company, taking spots on its advisory and corporate boards.
In the field of eye surgery, MIGS devices make up the highest growth market segment, with estimated annual sales of $500 million. Iantrek is the only MIGS company that has devices registered with the FDA.
Series C Puts $100M in JenaValve’s Bank
JenaValve Technology, Inc. today closed its Series C round of financing, counting $100 million in earnings. The Irvine, CA-based medical device company plans on using these proceeds to complete the investigational device exemption premarket approval study for its Trilogy Heart Valve System. Trilogy, a transcatheter aortic valve replacement system, is seeking FDA approval for patients with symptomatic and severe aortic regurgitation who are at high surgical risk.
In a prepared statement, John Kilcoyne, CEO of JenaValve, said that if approved, the Trilogy System will become the first and only transfemoral intervention for such an indication, allowing the company to tap into a potential multi-billion-dollar U.S. market.
JenaValve will also use some of its Series C funds to boost its worldwide manufacturing capacity and improve European real-world data development programs.
The current financing round was led by Bain Capital Life Sciences, which was joined by existing investors such as Andrea Partners and Valiance Advisors. JenaValve also gained new investors, which included Peijia Medical Limited and Innovatus Capital Partners.
Neurocrine Takes Over U.K. Firm Diurnal for $56M
In a Securities Exchange and Commission report filed Tuesday, Neurocrine Biosciences revealed that it was buying the U.K.-based specialty pharma Diurnal Group for around $56.5 million.
This acquisition price reflects a per-share cost of $0.322, representing an approximately 144% premium to Diurnal’s closing price Friday and a 151% premium to its weighted average closing price for the last three months. Shares of the U.K. biotech jumped 133% after the news.
The all-cash deal, still pending approval from Diurnal’s shareholders, will help Neurocrine “accelerate the establishment of clinical development and commercial capabilities in the U.K.,” according to the SEC disclosure. Once the acquisition pushes through, the California biotech will have access to Alkindi (hydrocortisone granules in capsules for opening) and Efmody (hydrocortisone modified-release hard capsules), both approved in the European Union and in the U.K.
The buyout also transfers to Neurocrine Diurnal’s robust pipeline of hormone therapeutics candidates across endocrine indications such as congenital hyperplasia, adrenal insufficiency and hypothyroidism.
IN8bio Raises an Additional $500K in Public Offering
Clinical-stage biopharma IN8bio earned additional gross proceeds of $0.5 million after an underwriter partially exercised its option to purchase 268,949 more shares at the public offering price of $1.90 per share.
This additional funding brings IN8bio to a gross total of $10.75 million raised during the public offering, corresponding to 5,663,686 shares sold.
IN8bio’s core technology is its DeltEx platform, which has produced a healthy pipeline of clinical and preclinical gamma-delta T cell candidates for solid and liquid tumors. In May, the company announced its new preclinical program focusing on induced pluripotent stem cell-derived gamma-delta T cells. The following month, IN8bio met with the FDA to discuss the IND filing for its glioblastoma program INB-400. The company hopes to file the application by year-end.
In the second quarter of this year, IN8bio posted a $7.2 million net loss attributable to common stockholders. By the end of June, it still had $25.7 million in cash.