NEW YORK – Ideaya Biosciences on Tuesday announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of common stock at $18.50 per share and pre-funded warrants at $18.49 per warrant, which it expects to bring in approximately $175 million in gross proceeds.
The firm is selling 7,439,201 shares of common stock and pre-funded warrants to purchase 2,020,270 shares of common stock in the offering. Ideaya has also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase an additional 1,418,920 shares of its common stock at the public offering price.
Ideaya will use the proceeds to fund clinical trials of its three clinical-stage programs, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm is studying its lead candidate, the PKC inhibitor darovasertib, in two trials: a potentially registrational study of the agent in combination with Pfizer's Xalkori (crizotinib) in metastatic uveal melanoma and a Phase II trial of darovasertib as neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy in primary uveal melanoma. The firm is currently studying darovasertib in a Phase I trial in primary uveal melanoma.
Ideaya believes darovasertib may be effective in uveal melanoma because of the prevalence of GNAQ and GNAQ11 mutations in this tumor type. The drug inhibits activation of protein kinase C (PKC), which is associated with mutations in GNAQ and GNAQ11.
The firm also will use the proceeds for a Phase I/II trial of its MAT2A inhibitor IDE397 in tumors harboring an MTAP-deletion and to pay for collaboration costs related to a study of the drug with Amgen's PRMT5 inhibitor, AMG193, in patients with MTAP-null solid tumors. In addition, it intends to use the funds to support an ongoing Phase I/II study of its PARG inhibitor IDE161 in patients with homologous recombination repair-deficient tumors. Ideaya may also use the funds for its preclinical efforts, working capital, and general corporate purposes, and in the future, to in-license, acquire, or invest in complementary businesses or products.
J.P. Morgan, Jefferies, and Citigroup are acting as joint bookrunning managers for the offering, expected to close on April 27. RBC Capital Markets and Oppenheimer & Co. are acting as lead managers for the offering.