Investing.com -- Shares in Iovance Biotherapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:IOVA) dropped sharply in premarket U.S. trading on Tuesday after the biotechnology firm announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering that was nearly 15% under its last close.
In a statement, San Carlos, California-based Iovance said it would price 20 million shares of its common stock at $7.50 per share, below its Monday close of $8.79.
Iovance, which specializes in developing treatments that use a cancer patient's own immune cells to attack tumor cells, said it expects to generate about $150 million from the offering.
The proceeds will help fund the company's Philadelphia manufacturing facility, as well as preparations for the commercial launch of its Lifileucel tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) cell therapy should it receive approval from U.S. drug regulators.
Goldman Sachs and Jefferies are acting as joint lead book-running managers for the offering.