Vera Therapeutics VERA announced Thursday that it has raised additional equity funding via a common stock offering of 4,993,067 shares at $15.00.
The company is developing treatments to change the standard of care for patients with immunologic diseases, with initial targets in severe kidney diseases.
The company has worldwide, exclusive licenses to develop and commercialize atacicept from Merck KGaA and MAU868 from Pfizer/Novartis.
Atacicept is in Phase 2B clinical trials for IgA Nephropathy (IgAN), also known as Berger's disease, a progressive kidney disease that occurs when an antibody called immunoglobulin A (IgA) builds up in the kidneys and inhibits function.
There is no cure for IgAN, and Clearview Healthcare Partners estimates the market opportunity for therapeutics to be between $4 billion and $8 billion per year in the US alone.
Investment thesis
Vera went public in May 2021, raising $48 million at $11.00 per share. The stock peaked at $37.11 in mid-November before stumbling with the rest of the market.
The most recent raise at $15.00 per share has Vera's cash balance at $150 million. Therefore, the current market cap of $450 million means that the company's pipeline is being valued at a mere $300 million.
We think the 60% decline in the stock in less than three months is unwarranted, and investors with a high risk tolerance for clinical stage biotech should take a closer look.
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Two multibillion dollar market opportunities
- Lead clinical?stage asset, atacicept, is a potential disease?modifying agent that targets B?cells and plasma cells, a key source of autoimmunity
- Phase 2b program in IgAN, clinical data in hand show best?in?disease potential, with expected data read?out 4Q 2022
- Initiating a Phase 3 program in Lupus Nephritis (LN)
- Strong financial profile, over $200 million in gross proceeds raised in the last 16 months, with access to a $50 million credit facility.
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Source: Equities News
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