Black Diamond Therapeutics to raise $75m from public offering

Shares in Black Diamond Therapeutics will be up for grabs after the oncology biotech company said it will offer 15,000,000 shares of its common stock in a public offering. Set at a price of $5.00 per share, the company said it expects to raise $75m.

All shares being sold are by Black Diamond, with a further 2,250,000 offered to underwriters over a 30-day period. The Massachusetts, US-based company said it expects the offering to close on or around 5 July.

In 2020, Black Diamond raised approximately $231.3m from its initial public offering.

The offering comes days after the company revealed positive results for the first portion of a Phase I trial of its lead candidate BDTX-1535. The epidermal growth factor receptor MasterKey inhibitor demonstrated anti-tumour activity in non-small cell lung cancer patients. Shares in the company skyrocketed following the data, rising 126% at market open on June 27 compared to pre-announcement market close on June 26. Black Diamond Therapeutics has a current market cap of $184m.

The company has also received US Food and Drug Clearance (FDA) of an investigational new drug application for BDTX-4933 – a therapy for RAF and RAS mutant tumours – as the company ramps up its pipeline development. According to a ClinicalTrials.gov entry (NCT05786924), the Phase I trial is currently recruiting.

In a March statement announcing 2022 financial results, Black Diamond’s president and CEO David Epstein, Ph.D, hinted at a fruitful 2023.

“We expect 2023 to be a catalyst-rich year for Black Diamond following tremendous progress for our two novel MasterKey inhibitors, with BDTX-1535 continuing to advance through our Phase I clinical trial and BDTX-4933 meeting critical milestones to further progress toward the clinic,” said Epstein.

“We are driven by the clear unmet need for next-generation precision medicines to treat cancers by overcoming resistance, minimizing on-target and wild-type mediated toxicities, and addressing brain disease. We’ve designed a robust pipeline of products with brain penetration properties to address these key challenges.”