A group of investors has stepped in to buy $42 million worth of shares in Affymax. The private placement gives the developer added funds for the late-stage development of Hematide. ProQuest led the round with the Sprout Group, Bessemer Venture Partners and a new investor, Biotechnology Value Fund, jumping in.
Hematide--a peptide-based drug designed to stimulate the production of red blood cells--is in a late-stage trial as a treatment for anemia. Affymax completed enrollment in its fourth and final Phase III trial for Hematide in mid-November.
"We're very excited that we were able to raise money," CEO Arlene Morris tells FierceBiotech, adding that in an interesting twist venture investors are growing more eager to invest in public biotech companies. "This gets us through a period of our highest burn. It gets us way past our data."
Researchers will lock in data from the four late-stage trials this November, a year after enrollment in the last trial was completed. The data lock is worth a $30 million milestone payment from Takeda, which is partnered on the drug. If the data is positive, there will be a $20 million milestone for filing an NDA and a $50 million milestone for an approval of the drug's first indication. Provided everything works as planned, adds Morris, Affymax will move to create a marketing arm for the drug and start looking to its in-house drug prospects as well as in-licensing to get back into the clinic.
Affymax will sell 2,844,708 newly issued shares of its common stock at a purchase price of $11.25 per share. In another purchase agreement, Affymax will sell 652,262 newly issued units at a purchase price of $15.33 per unit, with each unit consisting of one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase 0.65 of a share of common stock. The warrants are immediately exercisable at $16.78 per share and will expire five years from the date of issuance.
- check out the Affymax release