Advanced Accelerator Applications has raised €23 million ($25.7 million) after it withdrew its plans in February for an IPO to raise up to $75 million. The move comes almost a year after the company filed confidentially with the SEC for the offering in August 2014, with the public version following in November.
The company had already raised €48.7 million ($54.5 million) at Sept. 30, according to an SEC filing, so this latest financing pushes its total capital raised to over $75 million. The financing was led by Adage Capital Management with participation from new crossover investors T. Rowe Price Associates and Rock Springs Capital Management.
The company is close to becoming profitable--with $63.4 million in sales during the first 9 months of 2014, with an operating loss of only $1.9 million. It already markets 6 diagnostic products and is aiming to move into therapeutics.
The startup is in a pivotal Phase III trial with Lutathera to treat inoperable progressive midgut carcinoid tumors. The data are expected during the first half of 2016 with regulatory submissions to follow later that year; the study is expected to be sufficient for both the EMA and FDA.
Lutathera is a molecular nuclear therapy, specifically a Lu-177-labeled somatostatin analogue peptide. It's already available on a compassionate use or named-patient basis in the U.S. and EU, respectively, since there's no approved treatment for midgut neuroendocrine tumors.
Phase I/II trial showed Lutathera had progression-free survival of 45.1 months in subgroup of 51 patients with midgut neuroendocrine tumors and of 30 months in a subgroup of 103 pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor patients. Next year, the company expects to start an additional Phase III trial in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor patients. It also has several earlier stage clinical and preclinical candidates. In July, the company plans to file an NDA for Somakit, the companion diagnostic for Lutathera.
Advanced Accelerator was founded in 2002 by Italian academics as a spinoff from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Its existing investors include HBM Healthcare Investments, Life Sciences Capital and Carpefin.
Last September, Advance Accelerator acquired the Italian fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography business for an undisclosed amount from GE Healthcare ($GE), which includes the conglomerate's SteriPET imaging agents.
- here are the last IPO filing and the release