Shares of Vital Therapies (NSDQ:VTL) fell 5% Friday morning, after the company priced an offering of 2 million shares of stock at $17.50 and granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an 300,000 additional shares.
Vital Therapies is developing a cell-based therapy targeting the treatment of acute liver failure, using a cartridge system designed to produce cells that mimic those of a patient’s liver. The company’s the ELAD System is in Phase 3 trials, with Vital Therapies describing it as a bio-artificial liver for patients in acute liver failure or awaiting a transplant.
If its underwriters exercise the full allotment, Vital Therapies said it will reap net proceeds of $36.9 million from the offering.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch is acting as sole book-running manager for the offering, with William Blair lead manager and Canaccord Genuity and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey co-managers.
The company adjusted its outlook to state that the net proceeds should provide sufficient funding for expenses through the fourth quarter of 2016, unless it begins building commercial infrastructure before then, dependent on the outcome of clinical trials.