BUZZ - Disc Medicine shares drop after launching $350 million stock offering

October 19 - ** Shares of Disc Medicine’s IRON.O fell 1.5% in after-hours trading to $77.77 as the company plans an equity financing

** The biopharmaceutical company (link) launched a $350 million financing plan, including stock and pre-funded warrants

** IRON shares closed up 38.9% on Monday at $78.93, after its drug bitopertin (link) met all primary and secondary endpoints in a late-stage trial for erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP), a blood disorder that makes patients extremely sensitive to sunlight

** The successful late-stage clinical trial (link) paves the way for the company to resubmit bitopertin to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for review—after the regulator rejected its application earlier this year

** IRON will use the net proceeds from this offering to fund research and development of its existing or new drug candidates, to support the potential commercialization of bitopertin for EPP and X-linked protoporphyria (XLP), and for other purposes

** Jefferies, Leerink, Morgan Stanley, and Cantor Fitzgerald are acting as joint bookrunners

** Massachusetts-based IRON has approximately 38.4 million shares outstanding and a market capitalization of about $3 billion

** According to LSEG data, all 13 analysts covering the stock have a bullish view; the median target price is $117.50

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