Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ: LQDA) (the “Company” or “Liquidia”),
a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies for
patients with rare cardiopulmonary diseases, announced today the
pricing of an underwritten public offering and a concurrent private
placement, with anticipated total gross proceeds of approximately
$67.5 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and
commissions, and expenses.
The Company offered 6,460,674 shares of common stock in the
public offering at a price of $8.90 per share. In addition,
Liquidia entered into a common stock purchase agreement with funds
managed by Caligan Partners LP for the sale of 1,123,595 shares of
common stock at a purchase price of $8.90 per share in a private
placement exempt from the registration requirements of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The
closing of the public offering is not conditioned upon the closing
of the private placement, but the closing of the private placement
is conditioned upon the closing of the public offering. The public
offering and concurrent private placement are expected to close on
September 12, 2024, subject to other customary closing
conditions.
BofA Securities acted as the sole book-running manager for the
public offering, LifeSci Capital acted as lead manager for the
public offering and Needham & Company as co-manager for the
public offering.
Liquidia also announced today that the Company has entered into
a fifth amendment to the Revenue Interest Financing Agreement
(“RIFA”) with HealthCare Royalty (“HCRx”) to fund an additional
$32.5 million (the “Fifth Amendment”), subject to certain closing
conditions including the funding condition discussed further below.
With this amendment, HCRx will have invested the full $100 million
in non-dilutive capital as originally contemplated under the RIFA
entered in January 2023.
The Fifth Amendment proceeds, together with the public offering
and concurrent private placement proceeds aggregate to total gross
proceeds of approximately $100 million before deducting applicable
underwriting discounts, commissions, and expenses. Net proceeds
from the public offering, the concurrent private placement and the
Fifth Amendment are expected to fund ongoing commercial development
of YUTREPIA™ (treprostinil) inhalation powder for the potential
treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and pulmonary
hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD),
continued development of YUTREPIA in other clinical trials,
including but not limited to trials for pediatric patients and
trials further evaluating the use of YUTREPIA in WHO Group 1 and
WHO Group 3 patients, clinical development of L606 and for general
corporate purposes.
Michael Kaseta, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating
Officer of Liquidia, stated: “We are excited by HealthCare
Royalty’s continued commitment and confidence in our ability to
bring new treatment options to market for patients with rare
cardiopulmonary diseases. We believe we are financially
well-positioned to continue ongoing commercial development of
YUTREPIA in anticipation of potential final regulatory approval, to
progress development of YUTREPIA in other clinical trials like
ASCENT for PH-ILD, and to advance L606 (liposomal treprostinil)
inhalation suspension into a global pivotal study.”
Clarke Futch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of HCRx
added: “We view the recent grant of tentative approval of YUTREPIA
to treat both PAH and PH-ILD as a significant milestone for the
company. More importantly, we are confident in Liquidia’s potential
to address the needs of patients suffering from rare
cardiopulmonary diseases. We are excited to see how YUTREPIA may
help change the lives of patients upon final approval and launch
potentially in 2025.”
The Fifth Amendment to the RIFA moves the additional $32.5
million that was funded from the third and fourth tranches to the
second tranche such that, following the closing of the Fifth
Amendment and the funding of the remaining $32.5 million, HCRx will
have funded a total of $67.5 million under the second tranche and
each of the third and fourth tranches will be eliminated. As a
result, the Company will continue to pay HCRx on a fixed payment
schedule and will not change to a tiered royalty on the Company’s
annual net revenue after the first commercial sale of YUTREPIA. As
consideration for the additional invested amount, Liquidia has
agreed to a modified fixed payment schedule that extends expected
termination of the RIFA from 2029 to 2031. HCRx also agreed to
defer a one-time fixed payment of $23.8 million that was originally
due on July 30, 2025 into two equal payments due in January 2026
and July 2026. The aggregate payments to HCRx are capped at 175% of
the total amounts advanced by HCRx, but also include a potential
true-up payment to be made by Liquidia if HCRx’s internal rate of
return is less than a threshold value on the date the cap is
reached. The threshold value for the newly advanced funds is 16% as
compared to the 18% for the previously advanced funds. Funding of
the additional $32.5 million under the second tranche is
conditioned upon Liquidia receiving not less than $50.0 million in
aggregate gross proceeds from the sale of the Company’s common
stock in one or more transactions. Upon closing of the public
offering and concurrent private placement, this funding condition
will be satisfied. The closing of the public offering and
concurrent private placement are each subject to customary closing
conditions.
The shares of common stock in the public offering described
above were offered by Liquidia pursuant to its shelf registration
statement on Form S-3, including a base prospectus, that was
previously filed by Liquidia with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the “SEC”) on December 22, 2023, and declared effective
by the SEC on January 3, 2024. The public offering was made by
means of a written prospectus and prospectus supplement that formed
part of the registration statement. A final prospectus supplement
and the accompanying prospectus relating to and describing the
terms of the public offering will be filed with the SEC and will be
available at the SEC’s website located at www.sec.gov. Copies of
the final prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus
relating to the offering may be obtained from BofA Securities,
Attention: Prospectus Department, NC1-022-02-25, 201 North Tryon
Street, Charlotte, North Carolina 28255, or via email:
dg.prospectus_requests@bofa.com.
The shares of common stock to be sold in the concurrent private
placement have not been registered under the Securities Act or
under any state securities laws and, unless so registered, may not
be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an
exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the
registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable
state securities laws.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there
be any offer, solicitation or sale of these securities in any
jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be
unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the
securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.About
Liquidia CorporationLiquidia Corporation is a
biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies for
patients with rare cardiopulmonary diseases. The company’s current
focus spans the development and commercialization of products in
pulmonary hypertension and other applications of its proprietary
PRINT® Technology. PRINT enabled the creation of Liquidia’s lead
candidate, YUTREPIA™ (treprostinil) inhalation powder, an
investigational drug for the treatment of pulmonary arterial
hypertension (PAH) and pulmonary hypertension associated with
interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD). The company is also developing
L606, an investigational sustained-release formulation of
treprostinil administered twice-daily with a next-generation
nebulizer, and currently markets generic Treprostinil Injection for
the treatment of PAH.Tyvaso® and Tyvaso DPI® are registered
trademarks of United Therapeutics Corporation.About
YUTREPIA™(treprostinil) Inhalation PowderYUTREPIA is an
investigational, inhaled dry-powder formulation of treprostinil
delivered through a convenient, low-effort, palm-sized device.
YUTREPIA was designed using Liquidia’s PRINT® technology, which
enables the development of drug particles that are precise and
uniform in size, shape and composition, and that are engineered for
enhanced deposition in the lung following oral
inhalation. Liquidia has completed INSPIRE, or
Investigation of the Safety and Pharmacology of Dry Powder
Inhalation of Treprostinil, an open-label, multi-center phase 3
clinical study of YUTREPIA in patients diagnosed with PAH who are
naïve to inhaled treprostinil or who are transitioning from Tyvaso®
(nebulized treprostinil). YUTREPIA is currently being studied in
the ASCENT trial, an Open-Label Prospective Multicenter Study to
Evaluate Safety and Tolerability of Dry Powder Inhaled Treprostinil
in Pulmonary Hypertension, with the objective of informing
YUTREPIA’s dosing and tolerability profile in patients with PH-ILD.
YUTREPIA was previously referred to as LIQ861 in investigational
studies.Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking
StatementsThis press release may include forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release
other than statements of historical facts, including statements
regarding our future results of operations and financial position,
our strategic and financial initiatives, our business strategy and
plans and our objectives for future operations, are forward-looking
statements. Such forward-looking statements, include statements
regarding the closing of the public offering, the concurrent
private placement and the funding under the Fifth Amendment; the
intended use of proceeds from these transactions; our plans
regarding clinical trials, clinical studies and other clinical work
(including the funding therefor, anticipated patient enrollment,
safety data, study data, trial outcomes, timing or associated
costs), regulatory applications and related submission contents and
timelines, including the potential for final FDA approval of the
NDA for YUTREPIA; the potential for and timing of commercial launch
of YUTREPIA; the potential benefits of YUTREPIA for patients; and
our ability to execute on our strategic or financial initiatives;
involve significant risks and uncertainties and actual results
could differ materially from those expressed or implied herein. The
words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,”
“expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,”
“project,” “should,” “target,” “would,” and similar expressions are
intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have based
these forward-looking statements largely on our current
expectations and projections about future events and financial
trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results
of operations, business strategy, short-term and long-term business
operations and objectives and financial needs. These
forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks
discussed in our filings with the SEC, as well as a number of
uncertainties and assumptions. Moreover, we operate in a very
competitive and rapidly changing environment and our industry has
inherent risks. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not
possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess
the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which
any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to
differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking
statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and
assumptions, the future events discussed in this press release may
not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely
from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking
statements. Nothing in this press release should be regarded as a
representation by any person that these goals will be achieved, and
we undertake no duty to update our goals or to update or alter any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
Contact
Information Investors: Jason
Adair 919.328.4350 jason.adair@liquidia.com
Media: Patrick
Wallace 919.328.4383 patrick.wallace@liquidia.com
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