Radius Health pulls in $21.4M more for Phase III bone drug

Investors plowed another big chunk of capital into startup Radius Health as the company funds an ongoing pivotal study for its bone-building drug for osteoporosis, a bone-thinning ailment that effects an estimated 1 in 5 women in the U.S. Cambridge, MA-based Radius said the $21.4 million in new equity brings the company's $91 million financing round initially announced in May to $78.7 million.

Radius reported Friday that this is the third and last tranche of the equity money in the financing, and the company still has $12.5 million in debt financing that it can draw down until May under a loan deal with GE Capital, Healthcare Financial Services and Oxford Finance. The latest influx of equity capital came from Radius' existing backers, which include MPM Capital, BB Biotech Ventures, MPM Bio IV NVS Strategic Fund, The Wellcome Trust, HealthCare Ventures and Scottish Widows Investment Partnership.

Radius' bone-building drug BA058 is its most advanced product candidate and its best shot right now at getting an FDA approved product. While existing treatments aim to curb bone loss from the disease or treat the pain associated with it, BA058 (a biologic drug in-licensed from Ipsen) offers a potential bone-building treatment that could be a new option for the common illness. The company also has a deal with Eisai for ex-Japan rights to a new class of selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERM), and its most advanced drug from this class, RAD1901, is in a Phase II trial for treating hot flashes without the side effects of hormone treatments, according to the company's website.

- here's Radius' release

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