Vaxcyte edges lower after $1 bln raise to fund pneumococcal vaccine
BUZZ-Vaxcyte edges lower after $1 bln raise to fund pneumococcal vaccine ** Vaxcyte PCVX.O shares down 0.3% at $66.50 premarket on Weds after securing $1 bln raise
** PCVX late Tues announced pricing ~7.8 mln shares and pre-funded warrants at $64 for $500 mln gross proceeds, and concurrent public offering of $500 mln 1.5% convertible bonds (CBs) due Oct 15, 2032
** Conversion price on the CBs of $89.60 represents 40% premium to offering price of equity offering
** PCVX shares on Mon surged ~31% after co said its pneumococcal vaccine, VAX-31, met all main goals in late-stage trial and produced immune responses at least comparable to Pfizer's PFE.N Prevnar 20 and Merck's MRK.N Capvaxive
** Shares finished down nearly 10% at $66.70 on Tues after co launched the offerings
** Co intends to use net proceeds from offerings to fund clinical development of VAX-31 adult and pediatric programs, including ongoing VAX-31 adult Phase 3 program
** Jefferies, Leerink, BofA, Evercore, Goldman Sachs and Guggenheim joint bookrunners for equity offering; Jefferies, Leerink, BofA, Goldman Sachs and Evercore leading CBs deal
** At Tues close, PCVX stock up ~45% YTD
(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)
((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))