Immunomedics closes $459m stock offering to launch drug, scale manufacture
Immunomedics has been working on the development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) since 1982 and last month it was able to announce the approval of its first treatment.
Trodelvy (sacituzumab govitecan) was granted accelerated approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer who have received two prior therapies.
Harout Semerjian was appointed CEO of the company in April and will be tasked with managing the commercialization of the therapy.
In order to fund the commercialization of the treatment and to scale up its manufacturing capabilities, the company announced a public offering of common stock.
Immunomedics planned to raise $350m (€319m) but closed the sales of shares after raising $459m (€419m).
As a result, the company stated that it would primarily use the funds to support the launch of Trodelvy in the US, whilst also working on the clinical pipeline for the product.
Further than this, the company will also expand its manufacturing and improve the manufacturing process.
During an investor call on fourth quarter results, chairman of Immunomedics, Behzad Aghazadeh, acknowledged that the company’s manufacturing capabilities were ‘limited’ due its facility in New Jersey, US, being dedicated to the production of Trodelvy.
As a result, the company is looking to bring additional capacity to use for other projects in its pipeline, with Aghazadeh noting that the company was looking to third-party contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) to fill this need.
In a SEC filing on its public offering, Immunomedics acknowledged that COVID-19 may impact its internal and third party manufacturing operations, as well as supply chain and distribution operations.
Other than Trodelvy, Immunomedics also has IMMU-130, for colorectal cancer, and IMMU-140, for the hematological cancers in its pipeline. Both of these drug candidates are at the preclinical stage.
However, the company is also exploring Trodelvy in an additional six indications beyond its current accelerated approval by the FDA.
