Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Inc. started an offering of 8 million common shares to raise funds for the commercialization of its drug Firdapse.
Firdapse, or amifampridine, is a treatment for Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, or LEMS, a disorder in which the body's own immune system attacks the connection between nerves and muscles, disrupting the ability of nerve cells to send signals to muscle cells. The therapy is the first to get U.S. approval for LEMS, which affects about three of every one million individuals worldwide.
The Coral Gables, Fla.-based company also plans to grant underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 15% of the common shares sold in the offering.
Part of the proceeds will also be used to fund the company's business expansion in the U.S. and Japan and to fund general corporate purposes.
Piper Jaffray & Co. is the lead bookrunner for the offer.
Catalyst, which has been criticized for the steep price of Firdapse, previously defended the list price as necessary to recoup the millions of dollars it spent on getting the product through the U.S. regulatory process and has maintained the pricing is in line with other rare disease therapies.
Presidential candidate and U.S. senator Bernie Sanders has also criticized Catalyst and urged then U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb to allow companies and compounding pharmacies to make alternative versions.
In June, Catalyst sued the U.S. FDA for approving Jacobus Pharmaceutical Co. Inc.'s Ruzurgi, a Firdapse rival.
