Philadelphia-area life sciences are once again attracting major investments in the form of venture capital deals, public offerings and debt financing deals.
Since May 29, more than $200 million have poured into local biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
Most recently, Radnor-based Marinus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MRNS) closed a $46 million public offering that involved the sale of 18.4 million shares of common stock at $2.50 per share.
The investment in local life sciences companies is expected to double Thursday when Adaptimmune is expected to complete a $225 million public stock offering, selling 20.5 million shares at $11 each.
“The recent financing successes reflect the continued progress of Philadelphia’s life sciences companies working in important areas of unmet medical need.” said Chris Molineaux, CEO of Wayne-based industry trade group Life Science Pennsylvania. “While the world and media headlines have appropriately been focused on the battle against Covid-19, there are still thousands of diseases affecting millions of patients who are relying on our scientific community for help. Investors recognize this and are placing their bets on those companies with great promise and solutions.”
Other recent local financing deals consists of:
- Larimar Therapeutics, a new Bala Cynwyd formed following the reverse merger of Chondrial Therapeutics and Boston-based Zafgen Inc., raising $80 million in a venture capital finanicng led by Cowen Healthcare Investment. The funds will be used by Larimar to advance it new new drug candidate CTI-1601, which is under development in early-stage clinical testing as a treatment for Friedreich’s ataxia.
- Baudax Bio of Malvern closing a $50 million loan deal with Marathon Asset Management. The biopharmaceutical company plans to use the proceeds primarily for the official launch of its non-opioid pain medicine Anjeso, Baudax's first Food and Drug Administration-approved project, which is expected to occur later this month.
- King of Prussia-based Nabriva Therapeutics raising $38 million in a public stock offering. Nabriva, which is focused on developing anti-infective agents, expects to receive a ruling late this month from the Food and Drug Administration on the company's new drug application for its experimental antibiotic targeting complicated urinary tract infections.
Marinus, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, plan to use the proceeds from its public offering to further development its product candidates and for general corporate purposes.
The company's lead new drug candidate, ganaxolone, is under development as a potential treatment for epilepsy, depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders. Marinus is working on intravenous and pill formulations of ganaxolone.
AdaptImmune, a cell therapy company with operations in Philadelphia and OxfordShire, England, plans to use the proceeds from its public stock offering to advance the development of its cell immunotherapies, targeting a variety of cancers, into and through clinical trials.
Investments in Greater Philadelphia's biotech and health care industries helped propel the region into the top five nationwide for growth in venture capital funding in 2019, according to a report from Crunchbase.
Greater Philadelphia saw its total VC funding increase 52% to $1.4 billion, placing it fifth among metro hubs that saw the highest amount of growth.
