Poised at the threshold of a late-stage trial for its lead drug, Cambridge, MA-based Radius Health has wrapped a $91 million financing round with $66 million in equity funding and a $25 million loan facility. Close to $30 million of that is in the bank with the rest due in two tranches as needed during the development work ahead. And in conjunction with the third round Radius merged into an unlisted public shell company with plans for a listing on a national exchange.
The bulk of their new money is slated to pay for a Phase III trial of BA058, a subcutaneous injection therapy for osteoporosis. And the developer says that the 18-month pivotal trial should provide the data needed to gain U.S. and European approval. In the meantime, Radius is looking for a partner to work with.
"The addition of the term loan facility further strengthens our ability to work aggressively to complete our Phase III study and to evaluate partnering opportunities, with minimum dilution to our investors," says CEO C. Richard Lyttle.
Lyttle told FierceBiotech back in 2008 that Radius in-licensed BA058 from Ipsen and forged a deal with Eisai for the non-Japanese rights to a new class of selective estrogen receptor modulators. Radius also has a "home grown" program: RAD1901--a novel SERM (selective estrogen receptor modulator) now in Phase II. Along the way MPM Capital, BB Biotech Ventures, MPM Bio IV NVS Strategic Fund, The Wellcome Trust, HealthCare Ventures, and Scottish Widows Investment Partnership all signed on as investors. And this new round also includes BB Biotech AG, Brookside Capital, Saints Capital, Nordic Bioscience, and Ipsen Pharma.
Nordic will manage the pivotal Phase III trial, which will enroll 2,400 patients in eight countries at 11 centers operated by the Center for Clinical and Basic Research.
- see the Radius release