Biotech Briefs: ADARx, Varda & More
The latest from small and Emerging Pharma companies featuring ADARx, Varda Space and Scynexis.
For news on the large and mid-sized bio/pharmaceutical companies, see Global Briefs.
* ADARx Files $446 M Upsized IPO for RNA Drug Development
* Varda Space Raises $251 M for Space-Based Drug Mfg
* Scynexis Receives Up to $214 M BARDA Contract for Antifungal Drug
ADARx Files $446 M Upsized IPO for RNA Drug Development
ADARx Pharmaceuticals, a San Diego, California-based clinical-stage bio/pharmaceutical company focused on siRNA therapeutics, has announced the pricing of its upsized initial public offering (IPO) of 26,250,000 shares of common stock at a price of $17.00 per share, for a total value of $446 million.
ADARx’s lead pipeline product is onvuzosiran, a treatment for hereditary angioedema, a rare genetic condition causing severe, painful swelling in the face, limbs, and airways, currently in Phase III clinical trials.
All of the shares of common stock are being offered by ADARx. In addition, the underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 3,937,500 shares of common stock at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions.
Separately, AbbVie has agreed to purchase, in a concurrent private placement, a number of shares of ADARx’s common stock that would result in AbbVie owning approximately 4.9% of ADARx’s outstanding shares of common stock following the closing of the IPO and the concurrent private placement by AbbVie, not exceeding more than $100 million. With the private placement included, ADARx expects to raise approximately $532 million.
Source: ADARx Pharmaetucials
Varda Space Raises $251 M for Space-Based Drug Mfg
Varda Space Industries, an El Segundo, California-based company specializing in in-space processing, including for pharmaceuticals, has raised $251 million in Series D financing, which brings the total amount of capital raised by the company to $598 million.
Varda is a microgravity-enabled life sciences company. Microgravity suppresses convective currents, buoyancy, and sedimentation in materials. Due to the absence of gravity, materials, such as active pharmaceutical ingredients can be crystallized with more uniformity in particle size and structure.
The first product Varda plans to make in space will be an undisclosed pharmaceutical. Since its first mission launched in 2023, Varda has increased its flight cadence and has completed six successful reentry missions with over a dozen more launches and reentries planned through 2028, according to the company.
Source: Varda Space Industries
Scynexis Receives Up to $214 M BARDA Contract for Antifungal Drug
Scynexis, a Jersey City, New Jersey-based clinical-stage bio/pharmaceutical company focused on rare diseases, has been awarded a $214-million contract by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the US Department of Health and Human Services, to advance the development of SCY-247, fungerp antifungal candidate. Fungerps are a new class of antifungal medications that are derived structurally from the natural product, enfumafungin.
If all options are exercised, the BARDA contract could fund the development of SCY-247 from its current stage through submission of a new drug application for two indications: treatment of invasive candidiasis and prevention of invasive fungal infections in high-risk patients. The contract may be extended for up to 10 years and provides up to approximately $214 million in potential funding if all options are exercised. The initial base period of the BARDA contract provides approximately $18.5 million to support advancement of oral and intravenous SCY-247 into a Phase II trial in patients with invasive candidiasis.
Source: Scynexis
