Olema Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in targeted therapies for women’s cancers, has successfully arranged a combined financing package of up to $180 million. This includes a $130 million equity private placement led by Paradigm BioCapital, with contributions from several other institutional and accredited investors, and a $50 million senior secured credit facility provided by Silicon Valley Bank.
The private placement involves the issuance of 13,211,382 shares of common stock at $9.84 per share, expected to close on September 12, 2023. The credit facility, which is a four-year agreement, will make $25 million available immediately upon the closing of the private placement, with an additional $25 million potentially available at the discretion of Silicon Valley Bank.
This financing is set to provide Olema Oncology with sufficient capital to fund its operations beyond the top-line data from the OPERA-01 clinical trial and into 2027. The funds will be allocated towards the research and development of palazestrant (OP-1250), Olema's lead product candidate, and other ongoing research programs, as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes.
Palazestrant, an orally-available small molecule with dual activity as both a complete estrogen receptor antagonist and a selective ER degrader, is currently under evaluation in a Phase 2 clinical trial. It has received FDA Fast Track designation for the treatment of ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer that has progressed following endocrine therapy.
Olema Oncology, headquartered in San Francisco with operations in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of targeted therapies for women’s cancers. The company's forward-looking statements indicate optimism about the completion of the private placement, the use of proceeds, and the initiation of its pivotal Phase 3 monotherapy clinical trial (OPERA-01), though it acknowledges the inherent risks and uncertainties in such projections.
