Avidity Biosciences Aims to Sell $100 Million in Shares to Fund AOC 1001 Trial

By Mary de Wet

Avidity Biosciences Inc. said Monday that it intends to sell $100 million of its shares in an underwritten public offering to fund a trial of a possible treatment for myotonic dystrophy type 1.

Earlier in the day, the biopharmaceutical company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had cleared the company to proceed with the Phase 1/2 clinical trial of AOC 1001, an antibody designed to reduce levels of DMPK, the disease-related mRNA, in patients with myotonic dystrophy.

Shares climbed as high as $20.92 Monday before closing at $20.63, up 6.8%.

Avidity Biosciences said it would grant underwriters of the share offering the option to buy up to an additional 15% of the shares.

The company said it would use the offering's net proceeds, together with its existing cash, to complete the Phase 1/2 trial for AOC 1001; to advance AOC 1044, a treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, into clinical development; to further advance its Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates platform in and beyond its muscle franchise; and toward working capital and other general corporate purposes.

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 is a progressive and often fatal disease caused by a triplet-repeat on the DMPK gene, resulting in a toxic gain of function mRNA, Avidity Biosciences said. There are no treatments for the disease, the company said.

The FDA recently granted its orphan drug designation to AOC 1001, the company said. The designation is granted to drugs that seek to treat a rare disease or condition.

Write to Mary de Wet at mary.dewet@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 02, 2021 16:38 ET (20:38 GMT)

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