Germantown’s Precigen Inc. (NASDAQ: PGEN) has raised $75 million in a public offering that closed Friday and intends to use the proceeds to speed development of its experimental treatments for multiple rare diseases.
The clinical-stage biotech, which is developing gene and cell therapies for cancers, autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases, sold 42.86 million shares of common stock for $1.75 each. The company also gave the underwriters an option to buy up to 6.43 million additional shares in the 30 days after it filed an updated prospectus Jan. 26 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Precigen expects to end up with about $71.2 million in net proceeds, after subtracting the underwriting discountsand other expenses related to the offering. The total could climb nearly $82 million if the underwriters opt to buy those additional shares, according to the company.
The biotech said it plans to use the proceeds to fund development of its clinical and preclinical product candidates, as well as for working capital and other general corporate purposes. Beyond that, the company declined to get into specifics about how it will deploy the funds. “Drug development is a very agile and data-dependent endeavor,” Precigen President and CEO Helen Sabzevari said in an email to the WBJ.
Still, a top priority will be advancing its cell and gene therapies, specifically for diseases with limited or no available treatments. The company “is on rapid paths for licensure” for its clinical programs, Sabzevari told us. PRGN-2012, its candidate for recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, or RRP, is now entering a phase 2 trial.
In RRP, which is caused by human papillomavirus, or HPV, growths develop in the respiratory tract, obstructing the airways and causing other complications. In March 2021, PRGN-2012 earned orphan drug status — a designation the Food and Drug Administration awards to drug candidates for rare diseases.
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