La Jolla Gears Up for Secondary Offering

By Chris Lange Published Sep 10, 2:10PM EDT

La Jolla Pharmaceuticals Co. (NASDAQ: LJPC) has been on a tear over the past year. Now it is looking to capitalize on its increased price and raise more capital. The company announced the pricing of an underwritten offering of 2.55 million shares of its common stock at $38.00 per share. There is an overallotment option for an additional 382,500 shares of common stock. The total offering is valued at roughly $111.4 million.

The offering is expected to close on or about September 15, subject to customary closing conditions.

Jefferies and Cowen are the joint book-running managers for the offering. Chardan, LifeSci and Noble Life Science Partners are acting as co-managers for the offering.

La Jolla Pharmaceutical is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative therapies intended to significantly improve outcomes in patients suffering from life-threatening diseases. It has several product candidates in development. LJPC-501 is its proprietary formulation of angiotensin II for the potential treatment of catecholamine-resistant hypotension. LJPC-401 is its novel formulation of hepcidin for the potential treatment of conditions characterized by iron overload, such as hereditary hemochromatosis and beta thalassemia. LJPC-30Sa and LJPC-30Sb are next-generation gentamicin derivatives for the potential treatment of serious bacterial infections and rare genetic disorders, such as cystic fibrosis and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

La Jolla intends to use the net proceeds from the underwritten offering for general corporate purposes, including funding its ongoing and future clinical trials, and for general and administrative expenses.

So far in 2015, La Jolla has vastly outperformed the market, with shares are up nearly 130% year to date, while over the past 52 weeks shares are up over a whopping 350%.

Shares of La Jolla were down 9% at $38.50 Thursday afternoon. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $41.80 and a 52-week trading range of $7.20 to $44.99.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.