The global biopharmaceutical company said that it is well capitalized with cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and investments of as much as $222.8 million as of 30 June 2021.
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, a global biopharmaceutical company that focuses on developing treatments for rare diseases, has canceled plans to hold a public offering to raise funds.
In a brief statement, the firm said it decided not to push forward with its plan because it currently has a strong balance sheet. It added that it is well capitalized with cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and investments of as much as $222.8 million as of 30 June 2021. The company also said that the current market climate does not make a public offering conducive and beneficial for its stockholders.
BioCryst noted that it expects to have access to an extra $75 million from its existing credit facility, which is sufficient to carry the company to 2023.
BioCryst is the creator of oral, once-daily drug ORLADEYO (berotralstat), which is being used for the prevention of hereditary angioedema (HAE) attacks in adults and pediatric patients ages 12 years and up. Orladeyo is currently being distributed in the U.S., the U.K. Japan, and the European Union.
Other developments in its pipeline include an oral Factor D inhibitor called BCX9930 to treat complement-mediated illnesses, an ALK-2 inhibitor called BCX9250 for treating fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, and galidesivir, a possible treatment for Marburg virus disease and yellow fever.
The company announced its public offering plans a few days back, with the goal to raise as much as $200 million from the sale of common stock. BioCryst had intended to grant underwriters a 30-day option to purchase additional shares in an amount equal to up to 15 percent of the securities offered.
If it had pushed through, the proceeds would have been used for general corporate purposes, including the global development, manufacturing, regulatory, and commercial activities for Orladeyo, as well as funding the discovery, manufacturing, development, and clinical activities for the firm’s other rare-disease studies in its pipeline.
J.P. Morgan, Evercore ISI, and Piper Sandler were appointed as acting joint book-running managers for the activity.
Earlier in August, BioCryst reported a $28.5 million net revenue from Orladeyo as of the second quarter of 2021, with the number of prescribing physicians rising by 50 percent from the previous quarter. It also revealed that the Israeli Ministry of Health accepted its regulatory submission of Orladeyo for the prevention of recurrent attacks in patients with HAE in June. The German government also approved the launch of the drug in the same month.
“BioCryst is in an outstanding position, both near-term and long-term, with growing revenue from a strong ORLADEYO launch in the U.S., more approvals and launches of ORLADEYO around the globe and a pipeline in a molecule with our oral Factor D inhibitor, BCX9930, entering pivotal trials this year in the first of many indications,” commented Jon Stonehouse, president and CEO of BioCryst, in an earlier statement.
As of 30 June 2021, BioCryst has $50 million in total revenues, from just $2.9 million in the same period last year.
