Genfit prices IPO at $135m

As reported in early March, Genfit’s offering consists of a Nasdaq IPO of American Depositary Shares (ADS) and an ex-US private placement of ordinary shares with a 15% greenshoe option. Genfit announced it will offer 6,150,000 ADS at $20.32 per ADS and 500,000 ordinary shares in Europe and ex-US countries at €18.00 per ordinary share totalling in gross proceeds of $135.1m. Under a greenshoe option, investors will have the option to acquire further 997,500 additional ADSs and/or ordinary shares at the same prices. First day of US trade will be today.

The company further announced details on how it will use the proceeds from the offering. Genfit will channel €44.3m ($50m) of the proceeds into the ongoing pivotal Phase III trail with its selective PPAR agonist elafibranor for the treatment of NASH. Part of the money will be used to file a NDA at the FDA and a MAA at the EMA and to prepare a post-marketing study. Further€13.3m ($15m) will be used to prepare commercialisation if elafibranor goes through.

About €31m ($35m) of the proceeds are blocked to pay Genfit’s Phase III study of elafibranor for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) , and €5.3m ($6m) will be invested into the establishment, commercialisation and regulatory approval of the company’s in vitro diagnostic test for stratification of NASH patients.

Further €5.3m ($6m) will go into Genfit’s research programme on the use of elafibranor as a potential backbone for combination therapies in order to launch two proof-of-concept studies; and the remainder for working capital and for general corporate purposes.