Altimmune shares tumble after announcing direct offering

Shares of Altimmune Inc (NASDAQ:ALT) sank by more than a third on Monday after announcing a $25 million registered direct offering, less than two weeks after pricing a separate $12 million public offering.

In a statement, Altimmune said it reached an agreement with institutional investors to sell 4.629 million units at a public offering price of $5.40, a discount of 25.4% to Friday’s closing price of $7,24. The offering is expected to close on Wednesday, October 10.

“Altimmune intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for the continued advancement of development activities for our clinical-stage product pipeline, general corporate purposes and strategic growth opportunities,” the company said in a statement.

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The shares posted one of the biggest percentage losses in the Nasdaq for the session, plunging 34.1% to trade at the session low of $4.77. It was trading down 32.4% at $4.89 midway through the morning session. 

Offerings by biotech companies are often greeted negatively by financial markets because they dilute shareholder value. 

Altimmune is a clinical-stage immunotherapeutics company focused on the development of products to stimulate strong and durable immune responses for the prevention and treatment of infectious disease.

The company is based in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Story by ProactiveInvestors