What happened
Shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics (IOVA 0.87%) were down more than 8% as of 10:45 a.m. ET on Tuesday after the biotech announced a public stock offering. The stock is up more than 26% so far this year.
So what
Iovance specializes in tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapies for patients with cancer. The company's lead TIL therapy is Lifileucel, used to treat patients with advanced unresectable or metastatic melanoma. On Monday, the company said it was selling 20 million shares of stock at $7.50 to raise about $150 million. Public stock offerings dilute the value of the shares to current investors, so the stock dropped, plus the sale was offering the shares at a 14.6% discount over what they closed at on Monday.
Iovance said it planned to use the proceeds from the stock sale to launch Lifileucel, if approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as support the company's other clinical trials and expenses.
Now what
While biotech stocks with no revenue are generally risky, Iovance is well on its way as it just became a commercial-stage company through its purchase of melanoma and kidney cancer drug Proleukin from Clinigen Limited. Now, Iovance is looking to have its first commercial therapy that it has developed. In May, the FDA accepted the Biologics License Application for Lifileucel and gave it Priority Review. The Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) date is Nov. 25 and the therapy is in a confirmatory phase 3 trial. The company also has a relatively large pipeline of therapies that could soon join Lifileucel as products. As of the first quarter, the company said it had $632.7 million in cash, enough to fund operations into the second half of 2024. The stock offering would extend that window.
