Erytech Pharma set to raise US$100m in IPO and private placement

The IPO of its American Depositary Shares, each representing one ordinary share, at Nasdaq will be followed by a private placement in Europe and outside the US and Canada underwriten by Jefferies LLC, Cowen and Company, LLC and Oddo BHF SCA  in Europe. JMP Securities LLC is acting as lead manager for the offering of ADSs in the United States.

Erytech wants to use the proceeds of both offerings to finance Phase III trails of its most advanced cancer drug eryaspase in pancreatic cancer and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) by Q3/2018. Eryaspase (Graspa) is an asparaginase, which reduces blood levels of the amino acid asparagine that is essential to tumours but not healthy cells. To limit severe adverse effects of the free enzyme and to lengthen its plasma half-life, Erytech encapsulates it, and all other pipeline cancer drugs that target the tumours amino acid metabolism, into red blood cells using its proprietary Erycaps technology.

Use of previous non-encapsulated formulations of asparinase have been limited by  severe toxicities including depression of clotting factors, hypersensivity, liver dysfunction, CNS disturbances, pancreatitis, and renal failure. Asparaginase is already approved under various trade names in the EU. In a Phase IIb trial Eryaspase improved overall survival of patients with pancreatic cancer.

Erytech Pharma withdrew a MAA for Eryaspase in November 2016 as ALL therapy but now wants to resubmit data. The CHMP had expressed concerns about the way the effectiveness of the medicine and changes in the production process. Recordati SRL has acquired  the European commercilisation rights for Eryaspase in ALL.