NovoCure raises $158m in IPO

NovoCure (NSDQ:NVCR) yesterday said it raised $158 million from its initial public offering, after the flotation’s underwriters picked up part of an over-allotment option.

NovoCure, which is based in St. Helier, Jersey, an island in the English Channel, makes a tumor-zapping device called Optune. Earlier this month the company won expanded indications from the FDA and a new CE Mark indication in the European Union for Optune.

The IPO, of 7.5 million shares at $22 apiece, grossed $165 million. Yesterday NovoCure said the underwriters bought up another 376,195 shares, for gross proceeds of nearly $8.3 million, adding another $7.7 million to the company’s coffers.

There still 748,805  shares outstanding on the over-allotment, which is set to expire Oct. 31, NovoCure said.

NVCR shares are up 9.9% since their $20.16-apiece debut Oct. 2. The stock was down 4.6% to $22.15 apiece today in mid-morning trading.

Optune won pre-market approval from the FDA in April 2011, for treating adult patients with glioblastoma whose cancer recurred after chemotherapy. The device uses NovoCure’s “tumor treating fields,” which use low-intensity, intermediate-frequency alternating electric fields to kill cancer cells. It’s on the market in the U.S., Germany, Switzerland and Japan.

“Upon FDA approval of Optune for newly diagnosed GBM, we believe TTFields will transform the standard of care for patients with newly diagnosed and recurrent GBM,” NovoCure said in its IPO filing, noting that a Phase III pivotal trial was halted early after it met its endpoints after showing “significant improvements in both progression-free and overall survival” in GBM patients, NovoCure said. More than 1,600 patients have been treated using Optune, according to the company.

NovoCure said it has clinical programs in place for other types of cancer, including metastases, pancreatic, ovarian, mesothelioma and advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

NovoCure’s losses grew 4.3% to -$80.7 million last year on sales of $15.5 million, for top-line growth of 49.5%, and the company said it expects to be in the red for “at least the next several years.” NovoCure had deficits of $329.1 million as of June 30, according to a regulatory filing.

The post NovoCure raises $158m in IPO appeared first on MassDevice.

from MassDevice http://ift.tt/1PE4qqG