Intarcia Therapeutics, Inc. has had a very good week. The biotech company just closed two financing deals worth $210 million in total—that’s the biggest capital-raising event by a private biotech firm in a long time.
$160 million came from preferred private stock placement, and another $50 million came in from private debt placements.
Major investors involved included New Enterprise Associates Inc., New Leaf Venture Partners, Venrock, The Baupost Group LLC, and other Boston and New York-based investors.
From the Sacramento Bee:
“With this landmark financing in place, we have fully preserved the vision for our company and our aim to bring potentially revolutionary clinical, economic and humanistic benefits to millions of diabetes patients around the world,” said Kurt Graves, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Intarcia. “After considering multiple options to maximize shareholder value and scaling up for our ITCA 650 Phase 3 program, we chose to align with this elite group of investors who not only shares our vision for ITCA 650 in the diabetes marketplace, but has also expressed its confidence in our ability to shepherd ITCA 650 successfully through clinical trial development and to strike the collaborations needed to make ITCA 650 a global market success.”
The financing has helped Intarcia continue to maintain full control of ITCA 650, its lead product candidate.
ITCA 650 (continuous subcutaneous delivery of exenatide) is a once-a-year, injection-free GLP-1 treatment for type-2 diabetes, and should it receive approval, it will be the first of its type.
In the first quarter of 2013, Intarcia will begin its product’s worldwide Phase 3 program in partnership with Quintiles, Inc.—a leading biopharma service provider with experience commercializing a number of diabetes therapies.
The recently-completed financing arrangements also help Intarcia complete its corporate headquarters’ move to Boston, the Sacramento Bee reports, while retaining early development infrastructure and manufacturing systems at its present base in Hayward, California.
