RALEIGH — RedHill Biopharma (Nasdaq: REHL), an Israeli company with U.S. headquarters and commercial operations in Raleigh, has closed on a $20 million public offering to fund the commercial launch of its gastrointestinal drug, Talicia. That will mean new jobs in the Raleigh area.
The public offering opened December 4 for nearly 2.9 million American depositary shares (ADS) at a price of $7 per share. Each ADS represents 10 shares of RedHill. The company also granted underwriters a 30-day option to repurchase up to 428,571 additional shares at the public offering price.
CEO Dror Ben-Asher said the majority of the money raised will be used to bolster RedHill’s commercial capabilities around Talicia, including expanding its Raleigh team. Some funds also will be earmarked for Phase 3 studies of two other RedHill drug candidates, RHB-204 and RHB-104.
Talicia is a treatment for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. H. pylori bacteria live in the digestive tract and cause most stomach ulcers. Some people also can develop stomach cancer. The market for therapies to treat H. pylori infection was about $4.83 billion in 2015.
Earlier this month, RedHill announced positive top-line results from a Phase 3 study of Talicia. Ben-Asher said the company plans to submit its new drug application soon. Because the therapy is fast-tracked by the FDA as a high-priority program, Talicia is eligible for a six-month review. That means approval could come as early as the first half of 2019, which could mean an additional expansion of RedHill’s Raleigh-based staff.
RedHill was established in 2009 in Tel-Aviv and opened its U.S headquarters in Raleigh in 2017. It is a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused primarily on late clinical-stage development and commercialization of drugs to treat gastrointestinal diseases and cancer. RedHill’s shares are publicly traded on the Nasdaq stock market and the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange.
