Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of Chimerix (CMRX 1.25%), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing oral antiviral products, surged as much as 15% after it announced the pricing of a secondary share offering.
So what: According to Chimerix's press release, which came out after the closing bell last night, it priced 7.3 million shares at $14.22 per share, the same as yesterday's closing price. The gross proceeds before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions is expected to be approximately $103.8 million. Chimerix plans to use the raised capital to fund its research and development, as well as for general corporate purposes.
Now what: Under normal circumstances, stocks don't rise when a company announces a share offering as it means dilution to existing shareholders. In this case, though, Chimerix has two factors working in its favor. First, the fact that it was able to price its secondary at yesterday's close despite adding 7.3 million new shares signifies that investor demand for these shares was already high to begin with. Secondly, the $103.8 million in gross proceeds should alleviate any cash concerns and give the company years of R&D viability. While this is a nice short-term mover, investors would be wise to keep their eyes on the prize: namely brincidofovir (CMX001), Chimerix's lead oral antiviral, which has demonstrated antiviral activity against all five families of double-stranded DNA viruses, including cytomegalovirus, in previous studies and is currently in phase 3 trials. The success of failure of brincidofovir is much more likely to drive a long-term incline or decline in Chimerix's share price than a one-off share offering.
