CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 19, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Epizyme, Inc. (NASDAQ:EPZM), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company creating novel epigenetic therapies, today announced the closing of its public offering of 10,557,000 shares of its common stock at a price of $15.25 per share, before underwriting discounts. The shares of common stock issued and sold in the offering at the closing include 1,377,000 shares issued upon the exercise in full by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares at the public offering price less the underwriting discount.
The aggregate net proceeds before expenses to Epizyme from the offering are approximately $151.3 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions.
Epizyme anticipates using the net proceeds from this offering, together with its existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities to fund global development costs of tazemetostat outside of Japan, including the costs of its ongoing and planned clinical trials of and regulatory activities related to tazemetostat; to initiate supply chain and market development activities and prepare for the commercial launch of tazemetostat, if approved; to fund research and development costs to identify and develop other product candidates; and for working capital and other general corporate purposes. Based on its current operating plan, Epizyme expects that the net proceeds from the offering, together with its existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, will enable it to fund its operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements at least into the third quarter of 2019.
Morgan Stanley, Jefferies and Leerink Partners acted as joint book-running managers for the proposed offering.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of, the securities being offered in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.
About Epizyme, Inc.
Epizyme, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to rewriting cancer treatment through novel epigenetic medicines. Epizyme is broadly developing its lead product candidate, tazemetostat, a first-in-class EZH2 inhibitor, with studies underway in both solid tumors and hematological malignancies, as a monotherapy and combination therapy and in relapsed and front-line disease. Using the Company's proprietary platform, Epizyme has pioneered the identification and development of small molecule inhibitors of chromatin modifying proteins (CMPs), such as tazemetostat. CMPs are part of the system of gene regulation, referred to as epigenetics, that controls gene expression. Genetic alterations can result in changes to the activity of CMPs, which can allow cancer cells to grow and proliferate. By focusing on the genetic drivers of cancers, Epizyme's science seeks to match targeted medicines with the specific patients that need it.
