Nov. 30 Quick Takes: Xenon follows depression data with $300M raise

Neurology play Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) raised $300 million in an upsized follow-on through the sale of 9.2 million shares, of which 769,230 were pre-funded warrants, for a price of $32.50 per share. The biotech had previously proposed to raise $225 million. The financing was a show of investor faith in the company’s lead program after Xenon announced on Monday that XEN1101 had missed the primary endpoint of a significant improvement in MADRS score at week six in the Phase II X-NOVA trial to treat major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the company noted the molecule hit on multiple secondary endpoints in the study and that the “totality of the data” warranted exploration of future development in the indication. At Sept. 30, Xenon reported $526.7 million in cash and marketable securities and $112.4 million in long-term marketable securities. Xenon shares rose $2.83 to $36.58 on Thursday. 

In more proof that the TIGIT checkpoint target is complex, Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) will present updated Phase II data for vibostolimab plus Keytruda pembrolizumab in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at next week’s ESMO Immuno-Oncology Congress 2023. As detailed in an abstract for the KEYVIBE-002 study, vibostolimab plus Keytruda and chemotherapy led to 5.3 months of progression-free survival (PFS) vs. 3.2 months for placebo and docetaxel chemotherapy in patients previously treated with an anti-PD-1 and platinum-doublet chemotherapy, with a PFS HR of 0.77 (p=0.09). The company did not break out responses based on PD-L1 status and included PD-L1 all-comers in the study...