NEW YORK – Gritstone Bio said on Thursday it raised $55 million in a private investment in public equity financing from the sale of 5 million shares of its common stock at $11 per share.
The PIPE financing was led by Frazier Life Sciences Public Fund, with additional participation from Redmile Group and Gilead Sciences. Cowen served as the sole placement agent for the PIPE financing, which is expected to close Sept. 17.
The funds will primarily support Gritstone's efforts to use its EDGE platform to expand into infectious disease vaccine development, but the company is also using the platform to develop next-generation immunotherapies and vaccines for cancer. Using the EDGE platform, Gritstone predicts antigens present on the surface of tumors and virally infected cells that the immune system can recognize. The company then develops immunotherapies using the antigens to charge up the immune system to home in on and attack disease-causing cells.
Emeryville, California-based Gritstone has several candidates in oncology and infectious disease. Its cancer portfolio includes immunotherapies being studied in microsatellite stable colorectal cancer, gastroesophageal cancer, and KRAS-mutated non-small cell lung cancer. The company is also developing a second-generation vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 and an HIV therapeutic vaccine.
In December 2020, Gritstone raised $125 million in another round of private placement financing.