Puma Biotech Gears Up for Secondary Offering

Puma Biotechnology, Inc. (NYSE: PBYI) recently filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a secondary offering. No pricing details were announced, except that the offering would be valued up to $150 million with an overallotment option for an additional $22.5 million of shares.

Citigroup and JPMorgan are acting as lead book-running managers for the offering.

This is a biopharmaceutical company with a focus on the development and commercialization of innovative products to enhance cancer care. The Puma in-licenses the global development and commercialization rights to three drug candidates—PB272 (neratinib (oral)), PB272 (neratinib (intravenous)) and PB357.

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Neratinib is a potent irreversible tyrosine kinase inhibitor, or TKI, that blocks signal transduction through the epidermal growth factor receptors, HER1, HER2 and HER4. Currently, It is primarily focused on the development of the oral version of neratinib, and its most advanced drug candidates are directed at the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. Puma believes neratinib has clinical application in the treatment of several other cancers as well, including non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, and other tumor types that over-express or have a mutation in HER2.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women worldwide. Studies show that roughly 20% to 25% of breast cancer tumors have an over-expression of the HER2 protein. Women with breast cancer that over-expresses HER2, referred to as HER2-positive breast cancer, are at greater risk for disease progression and death than women whose tumors do not over-express HER2.

The company intends to use the net proceeds of this offering for the overall development of its drug candidates, including, but not limited to, research and development and clinical trial expenditures, pre-commercialization activities and general corporate and working capital purposes.

Shares of Puma Biotech were last trading down nearly 20% at $42.40, with a consensus analyst price target of $86.00 and a 52-week trading range of $19.74 to $94.93.

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