NASH drug developer Genfit plans $132-million US IPO, to list on Nasdaq

France-based biopharmaceutical firm Genfit (EPA: GNFT) has launched a global offering of its American Depository Shares and ordinary shares to raise around $132 million. The company also intends to list as “GNFT” on the Nasdaq Global Market.

An SEC filing by the company indicated last week that the main purpose of the offering is to take forward the development of the treatment for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, a type of fatty liver disease that is becoming common mainly due to the unhealthy food habits among the people. In the offering, the company intends to issue and sell about five million shares at $26.33 per share to investors. It also plans a private placement of its ordinary shares in Europe and other countries, simultaneously.

Genfit is looking to use $15 million of the proceeds from the offering to prepare for the commercialization of elafibranor, the drug candidate for NASH. Around $50 million will be used for the completion of the phase-III study of elafibranor and the further procedures – up to submission of new drug applications in the US and Europe. The company plans to use around $35 million of the remaining proceeds to initiate and complete the phase-III study of elafibranor for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis.

An SEC filing by the company indicated last week that the main purpose of the offering is to take forward the development of its NASH drug

It is expected that the global offering and the private placement will close simultaneously on the third trading day after the final pricing and allocation of the offering.

Genfit is specialized in the development of drugs and diagnostic solutions for the treatment of various liver diseases. Elafibranor, the company’s lead drug candidate, has reached the final stages of development for the treatment of NASH, giving it an advantage over rivals. Recently, Genfit received FDA approval for the phase-II clinical trial of elafibranor for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in children and adolescents.

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Meanwhile, the underwriters for the global offering have been granted a 30-day option to buy additional ADS and ordinary shares valued up to 15% of the total number of shares being offered. Excluding the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares, the offering is expected to result in the dilution of about 14% of Genfit’s outstanding share capital.

After slipping to a two-year low in the final weeks of last year, Genfit shares have gained more than 40% on the Euronext Paris stock exchange. The stock is currently trading slightly below the levels seen a year earlier.

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