Finance Watch: Big Money For Big Goals Met By Reata, CRISPR, Karuna

Helped by a recent rise in biopharmaceutical stock sentiment, publicly traded drug developers have launched sizeable stock offerings in recent weeks on the back of positive clinical trial results, including Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc. with a half-billion dollar offering based on Phase III data, a $274.1m offering by CRISPR Therapeutics AG in response to some of its first ever clinical data, and Karuna Therapeutics Inc. following its mid-stage schizophrenia results.

Public biopharma companies often sell stock after trial successes, but improved investor sentiment helped these latest fundraising firms launch massive offerings even without confirmatory Phase III data