What happened
One of this week's top roller-coaster stocks, biotech Impel NeuroPharma (IMPL), experienced another queasy price lurch on Friday. The company's shares fell by almost 24% on the pricing of an upcoming share issue.
So what
After market hours on Thursday, Impel NeuroPharma set the price for its previously announced 3 million-share issue of common stock at $15 per share. The company is also granting the issue's underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 450,000 shares at that price. The issue should close next Tuesday, Sept. 14, the company said.
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That $15 is well down from Thursday's close of just over $21 per share. It's also significantly south of the $18.65 on which Impel NeuroPharma based its proceeds estimates in the previous prospectus on the sale.
Impel NeuroPharma reiterated that it aims to use said proceeds "to fund the initial and ongoing commercial launch activities and market development of Trudhesa, advance INP105 into a clinical proof-of-concept trial in patients with [autism spectrum disorder], and for working capital and general corporate purposes."
Now what
Which is why investors shouldn't necessarily be so downbeat about Impel NeuroPharma's cup-in-hand move.
Trudhesa -- a nasal spray that treats migraines -- is the company's first FDA-approved medicine. While it won't be the only product of its kind on the market, it will give the onetime clinical-stage biotech its crucial first source of revenue. It's also encouraging that the company will be channeling capital to develop INP105, which targets acute agitation in patients suffering from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
