Micromet, Inc. (MITI) announced they successfully raised $40M this week in private placement financing for research and development. The company, which develops antibodies for cancer treatments, publicized the transaction Sept. 30 and closed Oct. 2. Those who invested include Index Ventures Growth, Abingworth, DAFNA Capital Management, LLC, and Merlin Nexus. Micromet board members and affiliates also participated.
“We are very pleased to have completed this financing under these challenging market conditions,” said Micromet’s President and CEO Christian Itin, “and we were gratified by the strong support of Micromet and the significant interest of the investors in this private placement. The proceeds from this financing will be used to advance our clinical antibody programs and to broaden our BiTE antibody pipeline.”
BiTE antibodies represent a new class of antibodies that activate a patient’s own cytotoxic T cells, considered the most powerful “killer cells” of the human immune system, the company explains.
Four of Micromet’s cancer treatment antibodies are currently in clinical trials, while the remainder of its product line is in preclinical development. Those under trial include — blinatumomab (for leukemia), in cooperation with Medimmune, Inc.; blinatumomab M110; adecatumumab, in collaboration with Merck Serono; and MT293, licensed to TRACON Pharmaceuticals.
“Micromet sold 9.4 million shares of common stock and warrants to purchase 2.8 million shares of common stock at a total purchase price of $4.25 per unit,” a company news release states. “With each unit consisting of one share of common stock and a warrant to purchase 0.30 shares of common stock. The warrants are exercisable at $4.63 per share and expire five years after the date of grant.”
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