Vertex plots $320M stock offering

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is hoping to raise a hefty $320 million through a public offering of its stock. The company announced that it is selling 10 million shares in an underwritten offering for $32 per share. If successful, the move will provide Vertex the cash it needs to finance expensive late-stage trials for telaprevir (a hepatitis C treatment) and VX-770 (for cystic fibrosis). "...[T]his offering could represent an important test [of] whether investors still have the appetite for this sort of classic biotech risk," notes Xconomy.

Those who chose to take that risk stand to win big. Vertex has turned in impressive data for telaprevir, which, if approved, could grow to a $2.6 billion blockbuster by 2013. Likewise, VX-770 would be the first oral treatment that addresses the underlying protein abnormality that causes CF.

Merrill Lynch is acting as the sole book-runner for the offering, with Cowen and Company acting as co-manager.

- here's Vertex's release
- see the Xconomy article

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