Travere Raises $175 Million in Public Offering to Advance Rare Kidney Disease Pipeline

Rare Daily Staff

Travere Therapeutics raised $175.2 million in a public offering of 6.6 million shares of its common stock at $26.75 as it capitalized on recent positive results from a late-stage trial of its lead drug for the treatment of a rare kidney disease. 

In addition, Travere has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 982,500 shares of its common stock at the public offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions.

In early February, Travere reported that its lead therapeutic candidate sparsentan, a treatment for rare kidney disorders, achieve its pre-specified interim partial remission of proteinuria endpoint after 36 weeks of treatment in patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a rare kidney disorder characterized by proteinuria, where protein leaks into the urine due to a breakdown of the normal filtration mechanism in the kidney.

Once in the urine, protein is considered to be toxic to other parts of the kidney, especially the tubules, and is believed to contribute to further disease progression. Other common symptoms include swelling in parts of the body, as well as low blood albumin levels, abnormal lipid profiles and hypertension. The disorder is defined by progressive scarring of the kidney and often leads to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). It is estimated to affect up to 40,000 patients in the U.S. with similar prevalence in Europe.

Travere is also evaluating sparsentan for the treatment of IgA nephropathy in an ongoing pivotal phase 3 study, and topline efficacy data from the 36-week interim proteinuria endpoint analysis from that study are anticipated in the third quarter of 2021.

Sparsentan has been granted Orphan Drug designation for the treatment of FSGS in the U.S. and Europe, Orphan Drug designation for the treatment of IgAN in the U.S., and has received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products on the company’s application for Orphan Drug designation for IgAN in Europe.