This week's Philadelphia-area life sciences industry news includes details on a multimillion-dollar stock sale, a multimillion-dollar licensing deal, one company's launch of a new subsidiary and another's acquisition of a competitor, and more.
Here's the roundup:
Baudax Bio
The Malvern pharmaceutical company raised $5 million in a public stock offering that closed Wednesday.
Baudax (NASDAQ: BXRX) sold 1.04 million shares of common stock along with warrants to purchase two series of warrants for a combined offering price of $4.795 per share. The company's series A-3 and A-4 warrants have exercise prices of $4.50 per share.
Baudax, led by CEO Gerri Henwood, plans to use the proceeds from the stock sale for working capital, pipeline development activities and general corporate purposes.
The company markets Anjeso, a non-opioid pain relief product, and has two neuromuscular blocking agents in clinical testing. On Thursday, the company said it has initiated a Phase 2 clinical study evaluating the safety, tolerability profile, and intubation conditions of BX1000, its experimental blocking agent for patients undergoing elective surgery.
During the first three quarters of 2022, the company generated $959,000 in revenue and recorded a net loss of $48.2 million. Last month, Baudax implemented a reverse 1-for-40 stock split to regain compliance with Nasdaq's minimum $1 per share price requirement.
The company's stock value dipped after the pricing of the stock sale was announced, but then limbed on the clinical trials news. Baudax shares opened Friday at $5.36 per share — up 22% from Monday’s starting price of $4.39 per share.
H.C. Wainwright & Co. served as the exclusive placement agent for the offering.
Incyte Corp.
The Wilmington biotechnology firm entered into a collaboration and license agreement with CMS Aesthetics of Shanghai that gives CMS the rights to develop and commercialize ruxolitinib cream in Greater China and certain countries in Southeast Asia.
Ruxolitinib cream is a novel formulation of Incyte’s selective JAK inhibitor ruxolitinib for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory dermatologic diseases. Ruxolitinob cream, marketed by Incyte (NASDAQ: INCY) in the United States under the brand name Opzselura, is approved as a treatment for the skin disorders atopic dermatitis and vitiligo.
Under the terms of the agreement, CMS will make an upfront payment to Incyte, which is also eligible to receive additional potential development, regulatory and commercial milestones and royalties on net sales of the licensed product in CMS’ territory.
The exact financial terms of the deal, including the amounts of the upfront payment and potential milestone payments, were not disclosed.
Hervé Hoppenot, CEO of Incyte, said the deal will give his company the ability to leverage CMS' dermatology expertise to expand global sales opportunities for ruxolitinib cream as a potential treatment for patients with immune-mediated dermatologic conditions in China.
Reaction Biology Corp.
The Malvern-based contract research organization acquired Bioassay Labor für biologische Analytik GmbH, including its wholly owned subsidiary, Peptide Specialty Laboratories GmbH, of Heidelberg, Germany.
Financial terms of the deal are being kept confidential.
John H. Johnson, CEO of Reaction Biology, said the deal will enable his company to add Bioassay's clinical phase and post-approval drug testing infrastructure, which include large molecule capabilities, to Reaction's list of drug discovery and development services.
"Market demand is increasing globally for large molecule services as biopharmaceutical companies search for new treatment options for patients suffering with cancer and other serious diseases," Johnson said.
White & Case served as Reaction's legal counsel for the transaction. Founded in 2001, Reaction has U.S. laboratory facilities in Malvern and Hershey.
Quick Hits
AnPac Bio-Medical Science Co. (NASDAQ: ANPC), a biotech company focused on early cancer screening and detection that has operations in Spring House and China, has formed a wholly owned subsidiary called Fresh2 Technology Inc. in Delaware. The subsidiary was established, according to AnPac co-CEO Haohan Xu, for the company's new product line: a business-to-business food trade and delivery platform for local restaurants and supermarkets. Xu said the subsidiary is focused on "developing and producing high-performance platform and supply chain of food distribution system, for a broader client group in U.S. local markets."… Philadelphia-based Context Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CNTX) announced positive preliminary Phase 2 data for its experimental metastatic breast cancer therapy. … Optinose (NASDAQ: OPTN), a Yardley pharmaceutical company, said its acting CFO Michele Janis is departing the company at the end of the month to accept a chief financial officer opportunity at a privately held company. … Radnor-based NRx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: NRXP) regained compliance with Nasdaq's $1 per share minimum bid price requirement. … Endo International’s ordinary shares, which previously traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol ENDP, are now trading exclusively on the over-the-counter market under the symbol ENDPQ. Endo, which is domiciled in Dublin and has its U.S. headquarters in Malvern, has been operating under U.S. Bankruptcy Court protection since August. … The board of directors at Langhorne-based hydrogel products maker Nexgel Inc. (NASDAQ: NXGL, NXGLW) approved a share repurchase program that authorizes the purchase up to $500,000 of the company's common shares.
