Israeli company Gamida Cell, which is developing a stem cell-based treatment for blood cancer, announced late last week that it had completed pricing for a $35 million offering at $5 a share - its second financing round since its Nasdaq IPO last year.
Gamida Cell raised more money than it originally planned, but at a lower share price. The company sought to raise $30 million at $7.40 a share, the share's closing price on Friday, June 21 before the offering was announced. The company's share price plummeted 33% on Friday to the price at which its new offering was held, 38% lower than the share price in its IPO in October 2018.
The underwriters for the offering - JMP Securities, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), and Oppenheimer - have a greenshoe option to invest $5 million more in the offering.
Gamida Cell is a portfolio company of two companies listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE): Clal Biotechnology Industries (12%) and Elbit Medical Technologies (11%). Gamida Cell has developed a unique system for multiplying and expanding stem cells in a sample without affecting their density.
The company's first product, designed for treatment of blood cancers, uses umbilical blood that does not stimulate an immune response, in contrast to bone marrow blood cells, which require a matching donor, who is often difficult to find.
Gamida Cell's leading product, Omidubicel (formerly NiCord), is in the final stages of a phase III clinical trial. The company hopes to obtain results by mid-2020, submit the product for approval by the end of next year, and bring it to market in 2021.
Gamida Cell recently signed a production agreement with leading Swiss production company Lonza, which will manufacture the product for Gamida Cell, once it reaches the market. In recent years, biotechnology companies have been obtaining proven production capability before launching a product in order to avoid wasting time after it is approved, and in order to make themselves attractive for potential partners and buyers.
Gamida Cell will use most of the money it raised for this purpose, while using the remainder for development of additional products in its pipeline. The company is managed by CEO Dr. Julian Adams, who has experience in bringing a product for treatment of cancer to market (the drug Velcade).
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 1, 2019
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