A biopharmaceutical company Summerville took advantage of a recent rise in its stock price to raise nearly $ 30 million, or three times more than it had predicted.
Aeterna Zentaris Inc. said investors took up 20.5 million shares at $ 1.45 each in a $ 29.7 million public offering that ended on February 19.
The company could raise another $ 4.46 million in working capital if the subscriber, HC Wainwright & Co., decides to buy more shares in 30 days.
Earlier this week, Aeterna said it anticipated that the offer would raise about $ 10 million.
The company plans to use the proceeds of the sale for general corporate purposes. They include additional studies on new uses of Aeterna’s flagship product, which she calls Macrilen, and the expansion of her drug development portfolio.
The drugmaker managed to sell the shares in its spare time after filing an open registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission about 18 months ago. He decided this week that the conditions were right to approach investors.
Aeterna’s shares listed on the Nasdaq jumped past the $ 3.30 mark on February 8, compared to about 70 cents a week earlier and 29 cents in November. Since then, the shares have yielded some of the gains. It closed at $ 1.47 on Friday.
Investors began bidding on Aeterna after the company announced an option contract that would give it exclusive rights to license a potential COVID-19 vaccine.
The agreement is with the Julius Maximilians University in Wurzburg, Germany, where scientists are working on an oral immunization treatment that could fight coronavirus disease. It is based on a typhoid vaccine that has been in use since the 1980s and has been administered 150 million times.
The agreement gives Aeterna the right to negotiate a worldwide license to develop the drug, provided that all regulatory and safety barriers are removed.
“Although vaccines for COVID-19 have been developed, we believe there is an opportunity for improvement,” said CEO Klaus Paulini in a written statement on February 2. “This includes the potential to develop a more economical oral alternative with less costly storage requirements than the currently approved COVID-19 vaccines. “
The idea is to offer a treatment that can be stored in the refrigerator or at room temperature without losing effectiveness. Vaccines currently approved by the United States must be stored in bottles at sub-zero temperatures.
Aeterna landed in Lowcountry from Quebec in 2014. The company is still registered in Canada, but its main executive offices are in the SC Research Authority building at the Nexton development in Berkeley County. It also operates a German subsidiary in Frankfurt, where Paulini is based.
Previously, Aeterna developed a test for adult growth hormone deficiency. It is now sold under the Macrilen brand by another company under a royalty contract.
Contact John McDermott at 843-937-5572 or follow him on Twitter at @byjohnmcdermott