ESPR Stock Drops 17% on Pricing of $75M Common Stock Offering

Esperion Therapeutics ESPR recently announced that it is floating a secondary issue of 30 million shares of its common stock to the public at an issue price of $2.50 per share. The company expects to raise approximately $75 million in gross proceeds (or $70.2 million in net proceeds) from the offering.

ESPR has also granted the underwriters of the issue an option to purchase an additional 4.5 million shares at the same price.

The secondary offering is expected to close today.

Why Did ESPR Stock Fall?

Esperion’s shares fell nearly 17% yesterday after the announcement. Though the offering does not result in major shareholder dilution, investors reacted negatively to the discounted pricing. The new issue was priced 19% below Tuesday’s closing price of $3.09, which weighed on market sentiment.

Year to date, the stock has gained 17% compared with the industry’s 10% growth.

ESPR’s Plans for the Proceeds

Esperion plans to use the net proceeds from this new issue, along with its existing cash balance, to expand the commercial reach of its marketed drugs, Nexletol and Nexlizet, and to support the clinical development of its pipeline. The company will also use the proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes.

The company markets bempedoic acid as Nexletol and Nexlizet for treating elevated LDL-C (bad cholesterol) and cardiovascular risk reduction. Nexlizet is a combination of bempedoic acid and ezetimibe.

This fundraising effort comes just days after Esperion settled patent litigation with generic drugmaker Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories RDY for both Nexletol and Nexlizet. Per the settlement terms, Dr. Reddy’s has agreed not to launch a generic version of either of the drugs in the United States before April 19, 2040.

Since the onset of this year, Esperion has also signed similar agreements with other generic drugmakers, like Micro Labs USA, Hetero USA and Accord Healthcare. Like RDY, these companies will also not be able to market generic versions of Nexletol or Nexlizet until 2040. However, ESPR remains involved in ongoing patent litigation with other generic challengers, including Sandoz SDZNY, Aurobindo Pharma and MSN Pharmaceuticals.

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. Price

 

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. price | Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. Quote

ESPR’s Zacks Rank

Esperion carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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