89Bio soars to 16-month high ahead of planned equity raise
23/03/2023 17:00
** Shares of 89Bio Inc ETNB.O jump 23.5% to $16.90,
highest since Nov 2021, as co seeks equity raise
** ETNB surged on Weds and finished session up 25% after
co's liver disease drug, pegozafermin, to treat nonalcoholic
steatohepatitis (NASH) met both main goals in mid-stage study
** After the bell Weds, co launched $200 mln equity offering
with BofA, SVB Securities and Evercore as jt bookrunners
** Raymond James doubled its PT to Street-high $50, per
Refinitiv
** ETNB's drug "is the most promising 'high efficacy'
therapeutic class in NASH right now and that is unlikely to
change in the near-to-mid term," RayJ analyst Steven Seedhouse
said in note
** Co, which has ~52 mln shares outstanding, had ~$188 mln
of cash on hand at end-Dec
** Shares have now more than quadrupled over the past year
(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed
are his own)
((lance.tupper@thomsonreuters.com
lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))