Avidity Raises $207 Million in Public Offering to Advance Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates Pipeline

Rare diseases focused biotech company Avidity Biosciences raised $207 million in public offering of common stock, one day after reporting positive preliminary results from a phase 1/2 study of its lead experimental antibody oligonucleotide conjugates therapeutic in patients with myotonic dystrophy that demonstrated the first-ever successful targeted delivery of RNA into muscle, which the company called “a revolutionary advancement for the field of RNA therapeutics.”

The company priced 12 million shares of its common stock at $17.25 per share. Gross proceeds to Avidity from the offering, before deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses, are expected to be $207 million. In addition, Avidity has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1.8 million shares of common stock.

Avidity intends to use the net proceeds from this offering, together with its existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities: to fund the research and development of its development programs, to continue development work associated with advancing its AOC platform and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Avidity’s AOCs are a new class of RNA therapeutics that are designed to combine the specificity of monoclonal antibodies with the precision of oligonucleotide therapies to target the root cause of diseases previously untreatable with RNA therapeutics.

The company’s pipeline has three programs in clinical development: AOC 1001, designed to treat people with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) and currently in phase 1/2 development; AOC 1020, designed to treat people living with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) and currently in phase 1/2 development; and AOC 1044, designed for people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) mutations amenable to exon 44 skipping and currently in phase 1/2 development. AOC 1044 is the first of multiple AOCs the company is developing for DMD. Avidity is also broadening the reach of AOCs beyond muscle tissues through both internal discovery efforts and key partnerships.

Author: Rare Daily Staff