ImmunoGen, Inc. and Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. accomplished in early April what has become increasingly difficult for public biotechnology companies to do when they accessed significant amounts of new capital to fund ongoing research and development and, in the case of ImmunoGen, commercial activities. These feats were achieved as many more of their peers were revealing plans to cut costs, implement layoffs and even file for bankruptcy.
Finance Watch: Lucky Few Raise Cash While Many Public Biotechs Cut Costs
Restructuring Ongoing As Firms Extend Funding Runways
Public Company Edition: ImmunoGen received the first $75m under a $175m term loan, while Protagonist raised $100m in a follow-on offering, but companies with bankruptcy filings and job cuts outpaced those accessing new capital by a wide margin in late March and early April.
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Public Company Edition: Stock valuations are falling due to political, economic and regulatory uncertainty, resulting in fewer large public offerings, more alternative financings and cost cuts. Carisma, Tenaya, BioAtla, Arbutus, Nkarta, Alector and Adaptimmune announced layoffs.
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CEO Kris Elverum told Scrip about the start-up’s platform for editing RNA to correct genetic variants that cause harm and to reproduce healthy variants as a means of treating disease.
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Private Company Edition: The latest group of drug developers to announce venture capital financings is remarkable for its geographic diversity, from Character Biosciences’ $93m series B round in the US to Augustine’s $85m series B in Belgium to a $29.2m series C for Aculys in Japan.
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