Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:IDIX) has priced its public offering of 22 million shares at $8.00 apiece, a 4 percent discount to the stock's previous closing price.
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company, which is engaged in the development of drugs to treat human viral diseases, revised its collaboration agreement with its shareholder and Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis (NYSE:NVS) earlier this week giving its increased flexibility to optimize the value of its pipeline.
The company agreed to pay Novartis a royalty based on worldwide sales of future Idenix hepatitis C drugs unless they are used in combination with drugs from Novartis. Idenix also announced on Tuesday it will no longer receive royalty or milestone payments from Novartis based upon sales of the hepatitis B treatment Tyzeka.
The companies also terminated an option right of Novartis to license Idenix's current and future development -stage drug candidates in any therapeutic area.
Idenix plans to use the net proceeds from the offering for research and development expenses relating to clinical trials of its drug candidates and potential acquisitions of new businesses.
The stock, which has been trading in the 52-week range of $4.06 to $15.25, fell 2.34 percent to $8.12 in early trade on Thursday.