Crinetics Raises $100 Million to Advance Rare Endocrine Disease Pipeline

Rare Daily Staff

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has raised $100 million through a public offering of 7.2 million shares of its common stock at a price of $14 per share.

The offering comes one week after Crinetics reported positive interim results from its ongoing mid-stage study of once daily oral paltusotine for patients with acromegaly for which surgery has not worked. The data showed that acromegaly patients switching from injectable depot therapy to once daily oral paltusotine maintained IGF-1 levels previously achieved with the standard of care treatment.

Acromegaly is a hormonal disorder that results from the pituitary gland producing too much growth hormone (GH), usually due to benign tumors on the pituitary. It is most often diagnosed in middle-aged adults, although symptoms can appear at any age. Signs and symptoms include abnormal growth and swelling of the hands and feet, bone changes that alter various facial features, arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, enlargement of body organs, and various other symptoms. If not treated with surgery or drugs, acromegaly can result in serious illness and premature death.

When surgery is unsuccessful in reducing tumors, drugs can be used. About 50 percent of acromegaly patients are candidates for treatment with drugs, usually long-acting somatostatin receptor ligands that require monthly injections. Paltusotine is being developed as an oral alternative to the monthly injections of depot drugs, which are painful and leave many patients with a return of acromegaly symptoms at the end of each monthly injection cycle.

The financing from the offering will be used to advance development of paltusotine into late stage trials, planned to start in 2021, and to advance the rest of its pipeline, which includes treatments for hyperinsulinism, Cushing’s disease, and congenital adrenal hyperplasis.