Spate of Public Offerings Continues as Two More Companies Raise Capital in Public Markets

Rare Daily Staff

Two more companies working in the rare disease space, gene therapy developer Passage Bio and genetic testing firm Invitae, tapped the public markets for capital to raise a combined $554 million to advance their programs and bringing the total raised during the week by seven companies to $1.3 billion.

Passage Bio, which is developing therapies for rare monogenic central nervous system disorders, raised $154 million through an underwritten public offering of 7 million shares of its common stock at $22.00 per share. In addition, Passage Bio granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1.1 million shares at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions.

Passage Bio has a broad pipeline of gene therapies for patients with rare, monogenic CNS diseases, established through a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement with the University of Pennsylvania’s Gene Therapy Program to conduct discovery and IND-enabling preclinical work that covers 17 programs, including lead programs in GM1 gangliosidosis, frontotemporal dementia, and Krabbe disease.

Genetic testing company Invitae, a leader in genetic testing for rare diseases, raised $400 million, pricing an underwritten public offering of 7.8 million shares of its common stock at $51.50 per share. In addition, Invitae granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1.2 million shares of its common stock at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions.

In November 2020, Passage Bio and Invitae entered into a collaboration to facilitate genetic testing and support early identification of GM1 gangliosidosis, a rare and often life-threatening monogenic recessive lysosomal storage disease.