Inhibikase Therapeutics Prices $110M Private Placement for Late-Stage IkT-001Pro Trial in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Inhibikase Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical firm listed on Nasdaq under the ticker IKT, has announced the successful pricing of a substantial private placement financing. The company, which specializes in developing therapeutics that inhibit protein kinase to target cardiopulmonary and neurodegenerative diseases, has raised around $110 million before deducting placement agent fees and other expenses from this financing round.

The funds raised will be utilized primarily to commence a Phase 2b clinical trial for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and for general corporate purposes. The financing round was prominently led by Soleus Capital, which is a new investor. Other new participants include Sands Capital, Fairmount, Blackstone Multi-Asset Investing, Commodore Capital, Perceptive Advisors, ADAR1 Capital Management, BSQUARED Capital, Nantahala Capital, Stonepine Capital Management, and Spruce Street Capital.

Concurrently, two members of the Board of Directors, Ms. Gisele Dion and Dr. Paul Grint, will step down from their positions. In their place, four new directors will join the board: Roberto Bellini, the former Chief Executive of BELLUS Health Inc. and current Managing Partner of BSQUARED Capital; Amit Munshi, the Chief Executive of Orna Therapeutics and former CEO of Arena Pharmaceuticals; Arvind Kush, the current CFO of Candid Therapeutics and past CFO of RayzeBio; and David Canner, a Partner at Soleus Capital. Mr. Bellini will additionally take on the role of Independent Chairperson of the Board.

The private placement involves the sale of a total of 58,310,000 shares of common stock and pre-funded warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 21,985,000 shares of common stock. These come with accompanying Series A-1 warrants for 40,139,474 shares and Series B-1 warrants for 73,813,529 shares. The shares and warrants are priced at $1.37 per share, with pre-funded warrants priced at $1.369 per share and an exercise price of $0.001 per share.

The Series A-1 and B-1 Warrants will become exercisable under certain conditions. The Series A-1 Warrants will be exercisable for 0.5 shares of common stock, expiring 30 days after the company announces the safety and tolerability of IkT-001Pro for PAH and after Inhibikase obtains stockholder approval and files an amendment to its charter to increase the number of authorized shares. The Series B-1 Warrants, exercisable for 0.92 shares of common stock, will become active after all Series A-1 Warrants are exercised and will expire 30 days following the company’s public announcement of its Phase 2b efficacy results for IkT-001Pro and the charter amendment.

Jefferies is acting as the lead placement agent for this private placement, with Maxim Group LLC serving as a co-placement agent. The securities were offered under a private placement exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and will not be offered or sold in the United States without appropriate registration or an applicable exemption.

Inhibikase has also committed to file a registration statement with the SEC within 30 days following the closing of the private placement to register the resale of the common stock and shares issuable upon the exercise of the pre-funded warrants and accompanying warrants.

Inhibikase Therapeutics is focused on developing Abelson Tyrosine Kinase inhibitor therapeutics for diseases affecting cardiopulmonary and neurodegenerative health. Their lead product for neurodegenerative disease is risvodetinib, aimed at treating Parkinson’s disease and Multiple System Atrophy, among others. For cardiopulmonary disease, their leading candidate is IkT-001Pro, aimed at treating PAH by delivering imatinib in a more patient-friendly form.

The private placement is expected to close on October 21, 2024, subject to customary closing conditions.