Israeli drug development company Intec Pharma (Nasdaq: NDEC; TASE: NDEC) today raised $35.4 million at a share price of $5.25, reflected an 18% discount on the price at which the share closed yesterday on Nasdaq. Trading in the company's share on the TASE (Tel Aviv Stock Exchange) was suspended pending the financing round, and the share price was down 15% in before-hours trading on Nasdaq today. Intec's market cap is $158 million.
Oppenheimer & Co. led the offering, together with secondary underwriters Thalmann and Roth Capital.
The discount for the offering is significant, but the company now has enough money to complete the trial of its Accordion Pill for treatment of Parkinson's Disease. This product, which is used for delayed release of the levodopa and carbidopa drugs at the entrance to the intestine, is in Phase III trials - the final hurdle before marketing, The company is predicting that the results will be published in the second half of 2018, and that it will be able to manufacture the product through a contractor in the last four months of 2018.
As of the end of 2017, jerusalem-based Intec Pharma had $55 million in cash, and its burn rate was $10 million a quarter, most of which was being used for the clinical trial. The combined sum is therefore likely to enable the company to not only complete the trial, but also to reach the commercialization stage of the technology without being starved for cash.
NeuroDerm, a company that also works in delayed release of drugs for treatment of Parkinson's Disease, was sold at a value of $1 billion to Japanese company Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma. Like Intec Pharma, NeuroDerm still has to pass its final trial before marketing its product.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 11, 2018
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