Soleno Raises $138 Million in Public Offering to Advance Treatment for Prader-Willi

Rare Daily Staff

Rare disease focused biotech Soleno Therapeutics raised $138 million in an underwritten public offering that it will primarily use to advance its lead candidate, diazoxide choline, for the treatment of Prader-Willi syndrome.

The company priced 3 million shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $46.00 per share. The gross proceeds of the public offering are expected to be approximately $138.0 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other estimated offering expenses. Soleno has also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 450,000 shares of common stock at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions.

Soleno priced the offering just days after diazoxide choline (DCCR) extended-release tablets received U.S. Food and Drug Administration Breakthrough Therapy designation for the treatment of adults and children ages 4 years and older with genetically confirmed Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) who have hyperphagia. The company recently completed its phase 3 development program to support a planned application to market the drug.

PWS occurs in approximately one in every 15,000 live births and is marked by hyperphagia, a chronic and life-threatening feeling of intense, persistent hunger, food pre-occupation, extreme drive to seek and consume food that severely diminish the quality of life for patients with PWS and their families. There are currently no approved therapies to treat the hyperphagia/appetite, metabolic, cognitive function, or behavioral aspects of the disorder.