GW Pharma (NASDAQ: GWPH) announced this evening that is has priced a secondary offering at $90, raising $252mm by selling 2.8mm shares. The underwriters include Morgan Stanley, BofA Merrill Lynch, Goldman, Sachs & Co., Cowen and Company and Piper Jaffray. If the underwriters exercise their option to acquire 420K shares within the next 30 days, the deal will raise gross proceeds of approximately $290mm, marking the company’s largest to date. The company had announced earlier today that it expected to raise up to $172.5mm with the underwriters option, so the demand was strong.
GWPH filed a prospectus detailing the offering, describing its intended use of proceeds, based on the original $150mm target:
- $50.0 million to fund pre-launch commercialization activities for Epidiolex;
- $30.0 million to fund further expansion of our Epidiolex manufacturing capability to meet anticipated medium and long-term demand;
- $25.0 million to fund manufacture of Epidiolex inventory in preparation for launch;
- $20.0 million to fund the expansion of the market opportunity for Epidiolex through clinical development of other orphan indications;
- $10.0 million to fund the advancement of other pipeline opportunities; and
- $6.3 million for other general corporate purposes.
GW Pharma’s stock closed at a new high for 2016 at $97.10, representing a gain of 39.8% YTD following a steep decline early in the year in advance of the release of the results of its Phase 3 clinical trial for Epidiolex in the treatment of Dravet syndrome. The stock has extended its gains this month after it released the results of an additional Phase 3 clinical trial for Epidiolex in the treatment of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome in June.
