Abivax CEO says $920 million raise funds U.S. launch plans through 2029 amid takeover speculation

According to CNBC, Abivax CEO Marc de Garidel said the French clinical-stage biotech’s latest funding round positions it to fund operations through the end of 2029 and build infrastructure to launch its bowel disease drug in the U.S. Abivax, valued at nearly 11 billion euros ($12.2 billion), raised $920 million last week after underwriters fully exercised their option to buy additional American depository shares; the proceeds are set to support commercialization of its lead drug, obefazimod, in the U.S. and further clinical R&D for the same medicine. De Garidel said Abivax will meet with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at the end of July for a pre-NDA meeting to discuss its New Drug Application for obefazimod, and he said the company’s approach to takeover interest is to focus on execution rather than defense. The report noted Abivax shares fell after cancer cases were reported in a late-stage ulcerative colitis trial cohort, then recovered after a second dataset showed malignancies were in line with expected rates for the patient demographic; the stock is up more than 1,600% over the past 12 months.